Firearms officers accused of shooting someone dead will remain anonymous during trial, home secretary announces

Published

6 months ago

October 23, 2024

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Firearms officers on trial over police shootings will not be named during criminal proceedings, the home secretary has announced.

Yvette Cooper announced a review into the accountability of firearms officers and confidence in policing after police marksman Martyn Blake was cleared by a jury on Monday of the murder of Chris Kaba in Streatham, south London, in September 2022.

Mr Blake, 40, fired a single bullet through the windscreen of the Audi Q8 that 24-year-old Kaba was driving as armed officers surrounded the car while he tried to escape.

The Metropolitan Police firearms officer was named for the first time in March this year as a judge lifted an anonymity order after media organisations challenged the legal application to protect his identity.

Before that, he had been known by the codename NX121 after threats were made against him, and he is reportedly now living in hiding, fearing for his life and his family after a £10,000 bounty was offered in revenge for Kaba’s death to anyone prepared to kill him.

Ms Cooper said officers will now remain anonymous until they are convicted and said the ruling will be part of an upcoming crime and policing bill.

She told the House of Commons: “When officers act in the most dangerous situations on behalf of the state it is vital that those officers and their families are not put in further danger during any subsequent legal proceedings, so we will therefore introduce a presumption of anonymity for firearms officers subject to criminal trial following a police shooting in the course of their professional duties, up to the point of conviction.”

Ms Cooper said Kaba’s death and the trial of Mr Blake were held against “a backdrop of fallen community confidence in policing and the criminal justice system across the country”.

There is “lower confidence among black communities”, she said.

The home secretary acknowledged Kaba’s parents and family “continue to experience deep grief and distress” and said it is “imperative that the jury’s verdict is respected” as she called for Mr Blake and his family to be “given the time and space…to recover from what must have been an immensely difficult experience”.

She also announced:

• Statutory footing for the Independent Office of Police Conduct’s (IOPC) victims’ right to review scheme

• The threshold for referral of police officers to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) to be same as when police refer cases involving members of the public – currently it is lower for police

• The IOPC will be allowed to send cases to the CPs where there is sufficient evidence to do so, instead of having to wait for a final investigation report

• The director of public prosecutions will review CPS guidance on charging police officers for offences committed while on duty

• The College of Policing will be asked to establish a database of “lessons learned” where deaths or serious injury has happened after police contact or pursuits

• Police officers found guilty of “certain criminal offences” will be automatically found to have committed gross misconduct and will be “promptly” dismissed if they fail vetting

• Officers will be suspended if they are under investigation for domestic abuse or sexual offences.

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Stablecoins are the best way to ensure US dollar dominance — Web3 CEO

Published

8 hours ago

April 6, 2025

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Stablecoins are the best way to ensure US dollar dominance — Web3 CEO

Stablecoins are the single best tool for the United States government to maintain the US dollar’s hegemony in global financial markets, according to LayerZero Labs CEO and founder Bryan Pellegrino.

In an interview with Cointelegraph, the CEO of LayerZero Labs, which created the LayerZero interoperability protocol recently chosen by Wyoming to be the distribution partner for the Wyoming stablecoin, said that the cross-border accessibility of dollar-pegged tokens makes them an obvious choice to drive US dollar demand. Pellegrino added:

“Stablecoins for the US dollar are the single best tool — the last Trojan Horse or vampire attack on every single other currency in the world — whether it is Argentina, whether it is Venezuela, whether it is all of the countries that have massive inflation.”

The CEO said he expects support for stablecoins on both the federal and state levels to grow because of the obvious boost stablecoins give to the US dollar in foreign exchange markets and the financial moat stablecoin-driven demand will create around the US dollar’s global reserve currency status.

Dollar, US Government, Stablecoin — *Stablecoin market overview. Source:* *RWA.XYZ*

US government looks to stablecoins to protect US dollar

Pellegrino cited Tether’s emerging role as one of the largest buyers of US Treasury bills in the world as evidence of the demand for US debt instruments from stablecoin issuers.

Tether recently became the seventh-largest holder of US Treasuries, beating out Canada, Germany, Norway, Hong Kong, and Saudi Arabia.

Speaking at the White House Crypto Summit on March 7, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the Trump administration would leverage stablecoins to extend US dollar hegemony and indicated this would be a top priority for officials in 2025.

According to a 2023 report from Chainalysis, over 50% of all the digital asset value transferred to countries in the Latin American region, including Argentina, Brazil, Columbia, Mexico, and Venezuela was denominated in stablecoins.

The low transaction fees, relative stability, and near-instant settlement times for dollar-pegged stablecoins make these real-world tokenized assets ideal for remittances and stores of value for residents in developing countries suffering from high inflation and capital controls.

Magazine: Bitcoin payments are being undermined by centralized stablecoins

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CFPB likely to step back from crypto regulation — Attorney

Published

10 hours ago

April 6, 2025

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CFPB likely to step back from crypto regulation — Attorney

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) will likely see a reduced role in crypto regulations as other federal agencies like the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and state-level regulators assume a bigger role in crypto policy, according to Ethan Ostroff, partner at the Troutman Pepper Locke law firm.

“I think with the current administration, my sense is, we are highly likely to see a significant pullback by the CFPB in the context of the activity by other regulators,” Ostroff told Cointelegraph in an interview.

State regulators also have the authority under the Consumer Financial Protection Act (CFPA) to assume some of the regulatory roles of the CFPB, the attorney said but also added that some regulatory functions will continue to fall within the purview of the CFPB as a matter of established law.

Ostroff cited the New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) and the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (DFPI) as regulators to keep an eye on as potential leaders of crypto regulations at the state level.

However, the attorney clarified that while the CFPB may see a diminished role during the Trump administration, the agency would not be outright dismantled during the current regime due to “statutorily mandated obligations and requirements” that require acts of Congress to change.

Trump administration targets CFPB in efficiency push

The Trump administration targeted the CFPB as part of a broader push by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to slash government spending and reduce the federal debt.

Russell Vought, the recently appointed head of the CFPB, announced major funding cuts to the agency and scaled back operations within days of assuming the helm at the CFPB in February 2025.

Bitcoin Regulation, US Government, United States, Donald Trump — *Source:* *Russell Vought*

Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren criticized Elon Musk for dismantling the CFPB, which the US senator co-founded back in 2007.

Warren characterized Musk as a “bank robber” and claimed that the Trump administration dismantled the CFPB to undo consumer protection rules and have greater control over the financial system.

In a February 12 interview with Mother Jones, the senator stressed that the Executive Branch of government does not have the statutory authority to fully dismantle the CFPB, which can only be done through Congressional approval.

Magazine: SEC’s U-turn on crypto leaves key questions unanswered

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Nearly 400,000 FTX users risk losing $2.5 billion in repayments

Published

16 hours ago

April 6, 2025

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Nearly 400,000 FTX users risk losing .5 billion in repayments

Nearly 400,000 creditors of the bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange FTX risk missing out on $2.5 billion in repayments after failing to begin the mandatory Know Your Customer (KYC) verification process.

Roughly 392,000 FTX creditors have failed to complete or at least take the first steps of the mandatory Know Your Customer verification, according to an April 2 court filing in the US Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware.

FTX users originally had until March 3 to begin the verification process to collect their claims.

“If a holder of a claim listed on Schedule 1 attached thereto did not commence the KYC submission process with respect to such claim on or prior to March 3, 2025, at 4:00 pm (ET) (the “KYC Commencing Deadline”), 2 such claim shall be disallowed and expunged in its entirety,” the filing states.

Nearly 400,000 FTX users risk losing $2.5 billion in repayments — *FTX court filing. Source:* *Bloomberglaw.com*

The KYC deadline has been extended to June 1, 2025, giving users another chance to verify their identity and claim eligibility. Those who fail to meet the new deadline may have their claims permanently disqualified.

According to the court documents, claims under $50,000 could account for roughly $655 million in disallowed repayments, while claims over $50,000 could amount to $1.9 billion — bringing the total at-risk funds to more than $2.5 billion.

The next round of FTX creditor repayments is set for May 30, 2025, with over $11 billion expected to be repaid to creditors with claims of over $50,000.

Under FTX’s recovery plan, 98% of creditors are expected to receive at least 118% of their original claim value in cash.

How FTX users can complete KYC

Many FTX users have reported problems with the KYC process.

However, users who were unable to submit their KYC documentation can resubmit their application and restart the verification process, according to an April 5 X post from Sunil, FTX creditor and Customer Ad-Hoc Committee member.

Impacted users should email FTX support (support@ftx.com) to receive a ticket number, then log in to the support portal, create an account, and re-upload the necessary KYC documents.

FTX’s Bahamian subsidiary, FTX Digital Markets, processed the first round of repayments in February, distributing $1.2 billion to creditors.

The crypto industry is still recovering from the collapse of FTX and more than 130 subsidiaries launched a series of insolvencies that led to the industry’s longest-ever crypto winter, which saw Bitcoin’s (BTC) price bottom out at around $16,000.

While not a “market-moving catalyst” in itself, the beginning of the FTX repayments is a positive sign for the maturation of the crypto industry, which may see a “significant portion” reinvested into cryptocurrencies, Alvin Kan, chief operating officer at Bitget Wallet, told Cointelegraph.