Ripple’s chief legal officer has urged the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to own up to its multiple missteps in enforcement actions against the crypto industry. He referenced court rulings that criticized the SEC for “gross abuse of power,” lack of “faithful allegiance to the law,” and being “arbitrary and capricious.” Ripple’s Legal Chief […]
Source link
CoinNews
NY state is demanding more information on Trump’s $175 million appeal bond in civil fraud case
NEW YORK (AP) — Days after former President Donald Trump posted a $175 million bond to block New York state from imminently collecting on a huge civil fraud judgment, state lawyers Thursday called for more information on the bond’s bona fides.
State Attorney General Letitia James’ office filed papers giving Trump’s lawyers or the bond underwriter 10 days to “justify” the bond — essentially, to show that the company can make good on it. That could mean disclosing more about the collateral Trump provided.
A hearing was set for April 22.
One of Trump’s lawyers, Christopher Kise, said James was trying to provoke a “baseless public quarrel in a desperate effort to regain relevance” after an appeals court last month significantly cut the amount of the bond needed to hold off collection.
“Yet another witch hunt!” Kise wrote in an email.
A message seeking comment was left for the underwriter, Knight Specialty Insurance Co.
The bond, posted Monday, at least temporarily stopped the state from potentially seizing Trump’s assets to satisfy the more than $454 million that he owes after losing a lawsuit trial. The case, brought by the Democratic attorney general, alleged that Trump, along with his company and key executives, defrauded bankers and insurers by lying about his wealth.
The ex-president and presumptive Republican nominee denies the claims and is appealing the judgment.
By posting the bond, Trump aimed to stop the clock on enforcement of the judgment during his appeal. But it hasn’t gone entirely smoothly.
First, the court system kicked back Monday’s filing for more paperwork, including a financial statement from Knight Specialty Insurance. That was filed Thursday, showing that the company has over $539 million in assets and related reinsurer Knight Insurance Co. Ltd. has over $2.1 billion.
Then James’ office filed notice that it “takes exception to the sufficiency” of the bond — a move that judgment winners can make to get more information from out-of-state underwriters, in some circumstances.
Knight Specialty Insurance is a Wilmington, Delaware-based part of the Los Angeles-based Knight Insurance Group.
The attorney general’s notice doesn’t request specific information. But “justifying” generally means demonstrating that the underwriter is financially sound and able to pay the bond amount if the judgment is upheld.
A state appeals court also has held, in an unrelated case, that there needed to be a showing that a bond was “sufficiently collateralized by identifiable assets.”
Knight Insurance Group Chairman Don Hankey told The Associated Press Monday that cash and bonds were used as collateral for Trump’s appellate bond.
Eric Trump, a son of the former president and a top executive in his company, said in a social media post Thursday that the bond was backed entirely by cash.
The attorney general’s objection “is just another example of the absurdity and foolishness that have been the underlying theme throughout this circus of a case,” the younger Trump wrote on X, former Twitter.
He and his brother, a fellow Trump Organization executive vice president, Donald Trump Jr. were also defendants in the fraud suit. They were found liable and ordered to pay $4 million apiece.
All told, the judgment against Trump, the sons and other defendants totals more than $467 million, growing daily with interest.
___
Associated Press writers Michael R. Sisak in New York and Brian Slodysko in Washington contributed.
A rendering of Amazon’s 43-story tower, the “Bellevue 600” project, in Bellevue, Washington.
Amazon
Amazon is resuming construction on a 42-story office tower in the Seattle suburb of Bellevue, the company said Thursday, after 22 floors of the building sat unfinished since 2022.
The company in 2022 paused work on five towers in the Bellevue area, along with new offices in Virginia and Nashville, citing uncertainty around the pandemic’s impact on in-office work. At the time, CEO Andy Jassy said Amazon was embracing hybrid and remote work. Since then, the company has required its employees to be in the office at least three days a week.
In December, Amazon opened the first half of the 42-story office tower in Bellevue, dubbed “Sonic,” and moved about 1,000 employees into the building.
“Once complete later this year, Sonic will provide space for more than 4,500 employees total,” the company said.
Amazon has continued to secure office space outside of Seattle, where it’s headquartered. Its Seattle campus now spans tens of millions of square feet across more than 40 office buildings. Amazon has said it doesn’t expect to grow its presence further in the city.
The company has said it plans to hire 25,000 employees in the Bellevue area. In addition to the Sonic tower, other buildings include Dynamo, which opened in February and can house up to 1,500 employees, as well as a 43-story tower referred to as the “Bellevue 600” project. The tower, its largest, will have about 1 million square feet of office space.
While the company is resuming work in Bellevue, some of Amazon’s other office projects remain halted. Last March, Amazon said it would pause construction on the second phase of its sprawling northern Virginia campus, called HQ2. The second phase, referred to as PenPlace, includes three 22-story office buildings, retail space and a 350-foot-tall tower called “The Helix.” The first phase of HQ2 opened last year.
Don’t miss these stories from CNBC PRO:
Crypto Expert Releases List Of Top 10 Altcoins To Buy For Maximum Profit In The Bull Market
Crypto expert Michaël van de Poppe has repeatedly stated that altcoins are still greatly undervalued heading into this bull run. Now, he has published a list of altcoins that he believes can provide investors with maximum returns.
Chainlink Is Top Of The List
In an X (formerly Twitter) post, Van de Poppe listed Chainlink (LINK) as the number one altcoin he believes has so much potential. He explained that Chainlink’s valuation is currently at a cycle low and has dropped by 40% since its recent peak. As such, this decline presents a “massive opportunity” since LINK is still likely to make more moves to the upside.
The second altcoin that Van de Poppe listed is Celestia (TIA). He noted that TIA is a relatively new project and would likely be a “massive gainer” in this market cycle. Considering that TIA is currently down 61% from its recent peak, the crypto expert claims this is a “giant opportunity” for those interested in investing in the token.
The third token on Van de Poppe’s list is Arbiturm (ARB). The crypto expert alluded to the massive ARB token unlock in March, which caused a lot of selling pressure. He also suggested that this is probably one of the reasons its valuation has dropped by 60% in the past month. However, he is bullish on Arbitrum as he considers the network a “strong Layer 2 Rollup system” and believes the ARB token could be one of the strongest gainers in this cycle.
Polkadot (DOT) is the next altcoin Van de Poppe mentioned. The analyst claims DOT’s valuation is still at a cycle low, which has opened up a “large opportunity” to invest in it. ATOM (Cosmos) is another altcoin that the crypto expert believes is still greatly undervalued and could provide significant returns for investors.
Other Altcoins On The List
Van de Poppe mentioned DYDX (DYDX) as another altcoin with great potential. He revealed that the crypto token is reaching a cycle-low level in the Bitcoin pair. He expects the token to make a significant move to the upside once it is done consolidating. The crypto expert also listed WooNetwork (WOO) as another DeFi token that is greatly undervalued.
Meanwhile, SEI (SEI), like TIA, is another relatively new project he believes will likely outperform other major crypto tokens in this upcoming cycle. He also acknowledged that newer coins also have the potential to enjoy more gains than tokens that have been around for a while.
Skale Network (SKL) and Covalent (CQT) completed Van de Poppe’s list of ten altcoins that he believes are undervalued and could do well in this bull run.
Total market cap trending at $2.4 trillion | Source: Crypto Total Market Cap on Tradingview.com
Featured image from Coinpedia, chart from Tradingview.com
Disclaimer: The article is provided for educational purposes only. It does not represent the opinions of NewsBTC on whether to buy, sell or hold any investments and naturally investing carries risks. You are advised to conduct your own research before making any investment decisions. Use information provided on this website entirely at your own risk.
Banks Seek to Purchase Bitcoin Directly From BTC Mining Firm Hut 8, Says CEO
Per the CEO of Hut 8, a bitcoin mining company listed on the Toronto stock exchange, major financial institutions have made inquiries to purchase bitcoin directly from the firm. Additionally, the Hut 8 executive emphasized the forthcoming halving event’s “big impact,” noting a surge in demand juxtaposed with a reduction in available bitcoins. Financial Giants […]
Source link
73 Million AT&T Users’ Data Leaked As Hacker Said, ‘I Don’t Care If They Don’t Admit. I’m Just Selling’ Auctioned At Starting Price Of $200K

Telecommunications giant AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) recently disclosed a significant data breach dating back to 2021 that resulted in the exposure of sensitive information belonging to 73 million users and is now circulating on the dark web.
The leaked data includes a wealth of personal details such as Social Security numbers, email addresses, phone numbers and dates of birth, affecting both current and former account holders. AT&T revealed that among the impacted people, 7.6 million are current account holders.
“Currently, AT&T does not have evidence of unauthorized access to its systems resulting in exfiltration of the data set. The company is communicating proactively with those impacted and will be offering credit monitoring at our expense where applicable,” AT&T said in its press release about the situation.
Don’t Miss:
The hacker behind this brazen cyberattack is ShiningHacker, a notorious figure known for previous data breaches targeting platforms such as Wattpad, Tokopedia, and Microsoft Corp.’s GitHub, according to Bleeping Computer.
Initially, AT&T denied any internal data breach when a small portion of the stolen data surfaced in 2021, claiming no knowledge of leaked information from their servers or vendors.
However, subsequent investigations revealed a different story. While AT&T refuted the claims initially, ShiningHacker admitted to the breach, dismissing AT&T’s stance with the assertion, “I don’t care if they don’t admit. I’m just selling,” according to Bleeping Computer.
The hacker attempted to monetize the stolen data by offering it for sale on the RaidForums data theft forum, setting the starting price at $200,000 and accepting incremental offers of $30,000. ShiningHacker indicated a willingness to immediately sell the data for $1 million, underscoring the severity and audacity of the cybercrime.
Trending: Long overdue disruption in the moving industry is underway. Here’s how to invest in it with just $100.
Telecommunications providers have become recent targets of cyberattacks, with T-Mobile facing a breach in 2023 affecting 37 million customers, and Verizon Communications Inc. experiencing a leak impacting 63,000 customers and employees.
In December, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) adopted a new role to ensure that “providers of telecommunications, interconnected voice over internet protocol (VoIP) and telecommunications relay services (TRS) adequately safeguard sensitive customer information.”
The same ruling expanded the definition of “breach” in this context, to include inadvertent access, use or disclosure of customer information, except in cases where such information is acquired in good faith by an employee or agent of a carrier or TRS provider and such information is not used improperly or further disclosed.
Read About Startup Investing:
“ACTIVE INVESTORS’ SECRET WEAPON” Supercharge Your Stock Market Game with the #1 “news & everything else” trading tool: Benzinga Pro – Click here to start Your 14-Day Trial Now!
Get the latest stock analysis from Benzinga?
This article 73 Million AT&T Users’ Data Leaked As Hacker Said, ‘I Don’t Care If They Don’t Admit. I’m Just Selling’ Auctioned At Starting Price Of $200K originally appeared on Benzinga.com
© 2024 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.

Crypto exchange Binance, currently facing criminal charges in Nigeria, notably lacked legal representation at its April 4 court hearing in the African nation.
Instead, the hearing was only attended by its compliance chief, Tigran Gambaryan, who the Nigerian government has detained since the end of February.
However, despite expectations for the proceedings to advance, the Nigerian High Court postponed the case until April 19.
As of press time, Binance has yet to respond to CryptoSlate’s request for comment.
Why was the case adjourned?
Last week, CryptoSlate reported that the authorities charged Binance and its executives with failing to register with relevant local agencies and avoiding tax responsibilities.
Additionally, the Nigerian government accused Binance of facilitating users who evade tax payments.
However, the government somehow failed to serve the case charges to the defendants despite having Gambaryan within their custody since February.
Chukwuka Ikwuazo, legal counsel for Gambaryan, argued that the arraignment should not proceed due to this lapse.
Binance’s case in Nigeria
In the past two months, Binance has faced ongoing disputes with the Nigerian government regarding its alleged involvement in worsening the country’s foreign exchange issues.
Despite Binance’s consistent denial of any wrongdoing, the Nigerian authorities, including the Federal Inland Revenue Services and Nigeria’s Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, have filed criminal complaints against it and its executives—Nadeem Anjarwalla and Gambaryan.
Anjarwalla, a UK citizen, evaded custody in March. He is currently being tried in absentia and the government has enlisted the help of Interpol to aid in his extradition.
Conversely, Binance has called for the release of Gambaryan, emphasizing that he does not make pivotal decisions within the company.
Notably, Gambaryan has also initiated legal actions against the Nigerian authorities, citing a violation of his fundamental human rights.
The post Binance executive remains detained as Nigerian court postpones case appeared first on CryptoSlate.



