Lawyers representing Sam Bankman-Fried, or SBF, have filed an appeal claiming the former FTX CEO’s bail was revoked “in retaliation for him exercising his First Amendment rights” and not witness tampering as alleged.
In an Aug. 25 filing in the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, SBF’s legal team filed a motion seeking to have him released before his October trial. According to his lawyers, Judge Lewis Kaplan revoking SBF’s bail on Aug. 11 was “improper,” claiming his actions of speaking to the press and releasing information about former Alameda Research CEO Caroline Ellison were part of his First Amendment rights.
According to the appeal, SBF’s lawyers questioned the manner of “intimidation or threats” against Ellison by the former FTX CEO speaking to reporters at The New York Times, which led to some of her private journals being published in an article. The New York Times submitted its own filing in the case, claiming the public had a “legitimate interest” in the information and citing similar First Amendment concerns.
“Under prevailing precedent, Mr. Bankman-Fried’s communications to the Times reporter were protected First Amendment activity,” said the Aug. 25 appeal. “Neither the Government nor the trial court have cited any case law, and the defense is aware of none, where a defendant’s provision of newsworthy information to a journalist has ever been construed as witness tampering.”
SBF has denied he was involved in witness tampering after prosecutors moved to revoke his bail following his alleged sharing of Caroline Ellison’s diary with The New York Times. https://t.co/IvcKnimcyt
The appeal built upon a filing in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, which claimed Bankman-Fried’s access to discovery materials before his criminal trial was inadequate due to his confinement to the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn. SBF has roughly five weeks until his first trial is scheduled to begin on Oct. 3, and the Justice Department has produced millions of pages of discovery materials ahead of the court date.
Kaplan had already approved provisions allowing SBF to have access to a courthouse cell block with his attorneys, provided they gave 48 hours’ notice. However, Bankman-Fried’s lawyers have called these accommodations inadequate, given the limited time before trial and the amount of information to review.
In October, Bankman-Fried will face seven criminal counts related to alleged fraud and misuse of customer funds at FTX and Alameda. There will be another trial scheduled for March 2024 in which the former CEO faces five criminal counts. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
Taiwanese lawmaker Ko Ju-Chun has called on the government to consider adding Bitcoin to its national reserves, suggesting it could serve as a hedge against global economic uncertainty.
Ko, a legislator at-large in Taiwan’s legislative body, the Legislative Yuan, took to X on Friday to report that he had advocated Bitcoin (BTC) investment by the Taiwanese government at the National Conference on May 9.
In his remarks, Ko cited Bitcoin’s potential to become a hedge amid global economic risks and urged Taiwan to recognize the cryptocurrency alongside gold and foreign exchange reserves to boost its financial resilience.
Ko highlighted that Taiwan is an export-driven economy that has experienced significant fluctuations in its national currency, the New Taiwan dollar, amid global inflation and intensifying geopolitical risks.
“We currently have a gold reserve of 423 metric tons, and our foreign exchange reserves amount to $577 billion, including investments in US Treasury bonds,” the lawmaker stated.
In a scenario of more intense currency volatility or potential regional conflicts, Taiwan may “very likely be unable to ensure the security and liquidity,” Ko continued, adding that Bitcoin could be a great addition to Taiwan’s reserves for several reasons.
Ko Ju-Chun advocated for the adoption of Bitcoin by the Taiwanese government before the Legislative Yuan. Source: Ko Ju-Chun
“Bitcoin has been operating for over 15 years. It has a fixed total supply, is decentralized, and is resistant to censorship. Many countries are focusing on its hedging attributes. At the same time, in intense situations, it may not face the risk of embargo,” he said.
Instead, the legislator suggested adding a “small proportion of Bitcoin” into the diversified assets as tools for sovereign asset allocation and risk hedging, and backup capacity of Taiwan’s financial system.
“When exchange rate risk and regional uncertainty increase, it is time to introduce new tools to construct a more flexible financial strategy framework,” Ko said, adding:
“As former Dean Chen Chong said, Bitcoin is the gun of the digital era. It may also be the gold of the digital era, the silver of the digital era. Or it could be gunpowder. A wise nation will not let weapons be in others’ hands.”
German law enforcement seized 34 million euros ($38 million) in cryptocurrency from eXch, a cryptocurrency platform allegedly used to launder funds stolen after Bybit’s record-breaking $1.4 billion hack.
The seizure, announced on May 9 by Germany’s Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) and Frankfurt’s main prosecutor’s office, involved multiple crypto assets, including Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), Litecoin (LTC) and Dash (DASH). The move marks the third-largest crypto confiscation in the BKA’s history.
The authorities also seized eXch’s German server infrastructure with over eight terabytes of data and shut down the platform, the announcement added.
eXch exchanged crypto without AML
In the statement, the BKA described eXch as a “swapping” service that allowed users to exchange various crypto assets without implementing Anti-Money Laundering (AML) measures.
The platform had operated since 2014 and reportedly facilitated about $1.9 billion in crypto transfers, some of which were believed to be of “criminal origin,” including assets laundered during the Bybit hack.
Example of flow of Bybit exploit funds moving through eXch and bridging back and forth between Ether and Bitcoin. Source: TRM Labs
“Among other things, a portion of the $1.5 billion stolen from the Bybit crypto exchange, which was hacked on Feb. 21, 2025, is said to have been exchanged via eXch,” the authorities wrote.
Multisig, FixedFloat among laundering cases
According to a post by crypto sleuth ZachXBT, eXch was also involved in laundering millions of funds from other crypto thefts and exploits, including Multisig, FixedFloat and the $243 million Genesis creditor theft.
Those were in addition to “countless phishing drainer services over the past few years with refusal to block addresses and freeze orders,” ZachXBT said.
Source: ZachXBT
ZachXBT was among the first security analysts to report on eXch’s links to laundering $35 million of crypto assets stolen from Bybit soon after the hack was confirmed.
“Lazarus Group transferred 5K ETH from the Bybit Hack to a new address and began laundering funds via eXch (a centralized mixer) and bridging funds to Bitcoin via Chainflip,” ZachXBT wrote in a Telegram post on Feb. 22.
“Even though we have been able to operate despite some failed attempts to shut down our infrastructure […], we don’t see any point in operating in a hostile environment where we are the target of SIGINT [Signals Intelligence] simply because some people misinterpret our goals,” it wrote.
Addressing the seizure, senior public prosecutor Benjamin Krause stressed the importance of action against “quick and anonymous opportunities for money laundering for any amount.”
“Crypto swapping is an essential component of the underground economy, used to conceal incriminated funds from illegal activities such as hacking or trading in stolen payment card data, thus making them available to perpetrators,” he said.
With Ruth away, Beth and Harriet are joined by Salma Shah, a former Conservative special adviser from 2014-2018 and now a political commentator.
They unpack Donald Trump’s surprise UK trade deal announcement and what it means for Sir Keir Starmer, who’s also landed a deal with India and is gearing up for key EU negotiations.
But while the global optics look strong, the domestic mood is tense. Harriet has some advice for the Labour backbenchers who are unhappy over welfare cuts and the winter fuel allowance policy.