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The UK could be complicit in war crimes in Gaza and could face legal action if it does not do more to “restrain” Israel, Tory MP Crispin Blunt has warned.

The International Centre of Justice for Palestinians (ICJP) – of which Mr Blunt is co-director – announced it has written a notice of intention to prosecute UK government officials for “aiding and abetting war crimes in Gaza”.

The move comes in response to Israel’s warning for 1.2 million people living in the northern part of the Gaza Strip to immediately leave their homes and move south.

Israel launches first ground missions in Gaza – Israel-Hamas war latest

Mr Blunt told Sky News he is “not sure [his] colleagues have grasped the legal peril they are in” and “everyone must act to restrain people” if they know war crimes are going to happen.

“If you know that a party is going to commit a war crime – and this forcible transfer of people is a precise breach of one of the statutes that governs international law and all states in this area – then you are making yourself complicit,” he said.

“And as international law has developed in this area, the fact of being complicit makes you equally guilty to the party carrying out the crime.”

More on Israel

In response, the Foreign Office said on Saturday that Israel has a “right to defend itself”, but added the country should take “all possible measures to protect ordinary Palestinians and facilitate humanitarian aid”.

The Israeli Defence Force has ordered 1.1 million people currently north of the Wadi Gaza bridge to move south
Image:
The Israeli Defence Force has ordered 1.1 million people currently north of the Wadi Gaza bridge to move south

Palestinian ‘children killed’

Israel continues to pound densely-populated Gaza despite warnings over civilian casualties – with authorities saying 1,900 Palestinians, including 583 children, have been killed.

Israel appears to be gearing up for a ground offensive in response to a violent attack launched by Hamas a week ago, during which hundreds of civilians and soldiers were killed and more than 100 people taken hostage.

The Israelis have also blocked the entry of goods into Gaza – which is home to 2.3 million people – and cut off electricity, leaving emergency services dangerously low on fuel.

And with the Egyptian border still closed and no humanitarian corridor agreed, Gazans can only flee further south through two main roads.

‘Where does this lead?’

“Of course our hearts all go out to the state of Israel and the people there for the appalling atrocity committed,” Mr Blunt said.

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The Israeli army has ordered people to leave the north of Gaza within 24 hours, with a possible ground offensive looming.

“But what we’re not allowed is witness one crime being piled on with another, which is going to make the situation worse but is also fundamentally wrong.”

He added Israel has “had a deal of exceptionalism and impunity from international law for a very long time now” and urged the UK to back UN calls for a ceasefire and lifting the total blockade.

“This has got to stop,” Mr Crispin said. “If in response to the atrocity of last Saturday is an illegal atrocity that is even worse in scale – where does this lead?”

Read more:
Sean Bell: Hamas is being used as a pawn
Arab-Israeli family want Gaza ‘flattened’ after brother killed by Hamas
Gaza: Why 24-hour evacuation is ‘impossible’

Asked about the evacuation call, Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) Lieutenant Colonel Peter Lerner told Sky News “people are adhering and listening”.

“We are continuing to increase our activities,” he said, adding it is important to “remember where we were just one week ago”.

“We were in the midst of this massacre taking place in our towns and we are determined to make sure this never happens again. Our mission now is to strike Hamas wherever they are.”

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Sky’s Defence and Security editor, Deborah Haynes, has visited the Be’eri kibbutz, close to Gaza, where more than 100 people were killed by Hamas, as devastated families still hope for the safe return of those who went missing.

Questioned on whether Israel should rethink the policy to evacuate people in such a short space of time, he added the IDF was “determined [to end] Hamas’s capabilities and safeguard the people of Israel”.

Britain’s position ‘bringing flamethrower’ to situation

As Downing Street remains steadfast in its support for Israel, the UK’s political leaders have been accused of giving Israel the green light to attack Hamas without regard to international law.

Francesca Albanese, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territories, criticised the UK government for giving Israel a “carte blanche” by asserting it “has the right to defend itself”.

She told Sky News on Thursday: “[The UK has] already given Israel carte blanche to do whatever it pleases, because look at the annexation that has been announced officially this year of large swathes of the West Bank.”

“Has anyone reacted to this? Not that I know of, other than in words and half-mouthed condemnations here and there.”

Daniel Levy, a former negotiator for Israel under the Labour government of Ehud Barak, accused Britain of “rather than bringing a fire extinguisher, bringing a flamethrower” to the situation so far.

He told Sky News last week there was a “missing part of the sentence, in ‘Israel has the right to defend itself – while respecting international law, international humanitarian law, laws of war and otherwise’.”

A spokesperson for the Foreign Office said Israel suffered a “shockingly brutal terrorist attack” and that only Hamas is “responsible for the conflict”.

“We support Israel’s right to defend itself and to take action against terrorism. Unlike Hamas, Israeli President Herzog has said their armed forces will operate in accordance with international law,” they said.

“Given that Hamas has embedded itself in the civilian population in Gaza, it’s important that Israel takes all possible measures to protect ordinary Palestinians and facilitate humanitarian aid.”

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Trump tariffs squeeze already struggling Bitcoin miners — Braiins exec

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Trump tariffs squeeze already struggling Bitcoin miners — Braiins exec

Trump tariffs squeeze already struggling Bitcoin miners — Braiins exec

The new trade tariffs announced by US President Donald Trump may place added pressure on the Bitcoin mining ecosystem both domestically and globally, according to one industry executive.

While the US is home to Bitcoin (BTC) mining manufacturing firms such as Auradine, it’s still “not possible to make the whole supply chain, including materials, US-based,” Kristian Csepcsar, chief marketing officer at BTC mining tech provider Braiins, told Cointelegraph.

On April 2, Trump announced sweeping tariffs, imposing a 10% tariff on all countries that export to the US and introducing “reciprocal” levies targeting America’s key trading partners.

Community members have debated the potential effects of the tariffs on Bitcoin, with some saying their impact has been overstated, while others see them as a significant threat.

Tariffs compound existing mining challenges

Csepcsar said the mining industry is already experiencing tough times, pointing to key indicators like the BTC hashprice.

Hashprice — a measure of a miner’s daily revenue per unit of hash power spent to mine BTC blocks — has been on the decline since 2022 and dropped to all-time lows of $50 for the first time in 2024.

According to data from Bitbo, the BTC hashprice was still hovering around all-time low levels of $53 on March 30.

Trump tariffs squeeze already struggling Bitcoin miners — Braiins exec

Bitcoin hashprice since late 2013. Source: Bitbo

“Hashprice is the key metric miners follow to understand their bottom line. It is how many dollars one terahash makes a day. A key profitability metric, and it is at all-time lows, ever,” Csepcsar said.

He added that mining equipment tariffs were already increasing under the Biden administration in 2024, and cited comments from Summer Meng, general manager at Chinese crypto mining supplier Bitmars.

Trump tariffs squeeze already struggling Bitcoin miners — Braiins exec

Source: Summer Meng

“But they keep getting stricter under Trump,” Csepcsar added, referring to companies such as the China-based Bitmain — the world’s largest ASIC manufacturer — which is subject to the new tariffs.

Trump’s latest measures include a 34% additional tariff on top of an existing 20% levy for Chinese mining imports. In response, China reportedly imposed its own retaliatory tariffs on April 4.

BTC mining firms to “lose in the short term”

Csepcsar also noted that cutting-edge chips for crypto mining are currently massively produced in countries like Taiwan and South Korea, which were hit by new 32% and 25% tariffs, respectively.

“It will take a decade for the US to catch up with cutting-edge chip manufacturing. So again, companies, including American ones, lose in the short term,” he said.

Trump tariffs squeeze already struggling Bitcoin miners — Braiins exec

Source: jmhorp

Csepcsar also observed that some countries in the Commonwealth of Independent States region, including Russia and Kazakhstan, have been beefing up mining efforts and could potentially overtake the US in hashrate dominance.

Related: Bitcoin mining using coal energy down 43% since 2011 — Report

“If we continue to see trade war, these regions with low tariffs and more favorable mining conditions can see a major boom,” Csepcsar warned.

As the newly announced tariffs potentially hurt Bitcoin mining both globally and in the US, it may become more difficult for Trump to keep his promise of making the US the global mining leader.

Trump’s stance on crypto has shifted multiple times over the years. As his administration embraces a more pro-crypto agenda, it remains to be seen how the latest economic policies will impact his long-term strategy for digital assets.

Magazine: Bitcoin ATH sooner than expected? XRP may drop 40%, and more: Hodler’s Digest, March 23 – 29

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Malta regulator fines OKX crypto exchange $1.2M for past AML breaches

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Malta regulator fines OKX crypto exchange .2M for past AML breaches

Malta regulator fines OKX crypto exchange .2M for past AML breaches

Cryptocurrency exchange OKX is under renewed regulatory scrutiny in Europe after Maltese authorities issued a major fine for violations of Anti-Money Laundering (AML) laws.

Malta’s Financial Intelligence Analysis Unit (FIAU) fined Okcoin Europe — OKX’s Europe-based subsidiary — 1.1 million euros ($1.2 million) after detecting multiple AML failures on the platform in the past, the authority announced on April 3.

While admitting that OKX has significantly improved its AML policies in the past 18 months, the authority “could not ignore” its past compliance failures from 2023, “some of which were deemed to be serious and systematic,” the FIAU notice said.

OKX was among the first crypto exchanges to receive a license under Europe’s new Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulation via its Malta hub in January 2025.

The news of the $1.2 million penalty in Malta came after Bloomberg in March reported that European Union regulators were probing OKX for laundering $100 million in funds from the Bybit hack.

Bybit CEO Ben Zhou previously claimed that OKX’s Web3 proxy allowed hackers to launder about $100 million, or 40,233 Ether (ETH), from the $1.5 billion hack that occurred in February.

This is a developing story, and further information will be added as it becomes available.

Magazine: Stablecoin for cyber-scammers launches, Sony L2 drama: Asia Express

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US court fines UAE crypto firm CLS Global $428K for wash trading

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US court fines UAE crypto firm CLS Global 8K for wash trading

US court fines UAE crypto firm CLS Global 8K for wash trading

Authorities in the US state of Massachusetts continue targeting unlawful cryptocurrency market practices, with a local court fining crypto financial services firm CLS Global.

A federal court in Boston on April 2 sentenced CLS Global on criminal charges related to fraudulent manipulation of crypto trading volume, according to an announcement from the Massachusetts US Attorney’s Office.

In addition to a $428,059 fine, the court prohibited CLS Global from offering services in the US for a probation period of three years.

CLS Global, a crypto market maker registered in the United Arab Emirates, in January pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit market manipulation and one count of wire fraud.

CLS agreed to manipulate the FBI’s “trap token” NexFundAI

The charges against CLS Global followed an undercover law enforcement operation involving NexFundAI, a token created by the FBI as part of a sting operation in May 2024.

CLS Global was among at least three firms that took the FBI’s bait and agreed to provide “market maker services” for NexFundAI, including a fraudulent scheme to attract investors to purchase the token.

In October 2024, the Securities and Exchange Commission announced fraud charges against CLS and its employee, Andrey Zhorzhes. The US securities regulator also filed complaints against two other NexFundAI manipulators, Hong Kong-linked ZM Quant Investment and Russia-linked Gotbit Consulting.

CLS Global’s profile

According to CLS Global CEO Filipp Veselov, the company was founded in 2017 to fill in a “huge gap in the market for high-quality market-making solutions and trading consulting.”

Prior to CLS, Veselov worked at the Russian cryptocurrency exchange platform Latoken, which is advertised as a “global digital asset exchange” and has about 370,000 followers on X.

The CLS team also includes chief revenue officer Pavel Singaevskii, who previously served as sales manager at Stex, a crypto platform that reportedly ceased operations without warning in 2023.

US court fines UAE crypto firm CLS Global $428K for wash trading

Source: CLS Global

According to CLS Global’s X page, the platform continues operating and has more than 110,000 followers at the time of publication.

How much wash trading is in crypto?

Wash trading is an illegal practice involving artificially inflating trading volume by repeatedly buying and selling the same asset, generating a misleading perception of demand.

According to a January 2025 report by the US blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis, the crypto market has at least $2.6 billion in estimated wash traded volumes, or just about 2% of total daily crypto trading volumes, as reported by CoinGecko.

US court fines UAE crypto firm CLS Global $428K for wash trading

Estimated wash trade volume in crypto. Source: Chainalysis

Related: Russian Gotbit founder strikes $23M plea deal with US prosecutors

Some studies indicate that wash trading makes up a bigger share of the crypto market.

In 2022, the US National Bureau of Economic Research reported that illegal wash trading may account for as much as 70% of average trading volumes on unregulated exchanges.

Magazine: Financial nihilism in crypto is over — It’s time to dream big again

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