Brutkey

Molly White
@molly0xfff@hachyderm.io
Molly White
@molly0xfff@hachyderm.io

Do Kwon, founder of the Terra/Luna stablecoin ecosystem that underwent a $40 billion collapse in 2022, has reached a plea deal that will give him a maximum of 25 years in prison (rather than life). Prosecutors will recommend no more than 12.

Terra/Luna founder Do Kwon has also reached a plea deal, pleading to two of nine original charges in connection to the $40 billiona collapse of his stablecoin scheme in 2022 [I73]. He faces a maximum sentence of five years on a wire fraud charge and up to twenty years on a fraud conspiracy charge, which could run consecutively. If Kwon accepts responsibility and doesn’t commit new crimes, the government will push for no more than a twelve year sentence (though the judge isn’t required to accept the government’s suggestion). Kwon has also agreed to forfeit some properties and up to $19 million, and pay restitution.6 He also still faces charges in South Korea.
Molly White
@molly0xfff@hachyderm.io

A jury convicted Tornado Cash developer Roman Storm on the least severe of three charges, and was unable to reach a verdict on the other two. Storm plans to appeal, and it remains to be seen whether prosecutors will attempt to retry the other two charges.

In the courts A jury found Tornado Cash developer Roman Storm guilty on one of the three charges against him. Though the jury deadlocked on the other two charges — money laundering conspiracy and conspiracy to evade sanctions — they found him guilty of conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money transmitting business. This charge was the one I recently wrote “twisted the Tornado Cash prosecutors into a pretzel” after they followed guidance from Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche to drop a portion of the charge: Now they’re left trying to argue that Tornado Cash should have been doing a whole bunch of compliance activities, while simultaneously acknowledging that they can’t prosecute Storm for failing to register as a business that would require such compliance. The good news for Storm is that this charge carries a comparatively light maximum sentence of up to five years in prison; the other two charges have maximum sentences of twenty years. Storm’s attorney said he plans to appeal his conviction, telling reporters it has “serious legal issues”. I certainly don’t disagree, and I’ll be watching the appeal closely.1 It’s uncertain if prosecutors will attempt to retry the remaining two charges. They may not, given that this case has been politically unpopular among more ideological segments of Trump’s crypto base. However, the recent White House cryptocurrency working group report recommending expanding the Patriot Act to digital asset transactions may suggest that the administration intends to continue — or increase — crackdowns on crypto mixers and other privacy software.2 Recommendation • Congress should, consistent with how it has approached Fentanyl and Russian illicit finance, add a sixth special measure to Section 311 authorizing FinCEN to prohibit, or impose conditions upon, certain “transmittals of funds” that are not tied to a correspondent banking relationship. This would enable Treasury to target foreign digital asset exchanges or digital asset transactions involving criminal or state actors—without regard to the nature of their illicit activity “Section 311” refers to section 311 of the Patriot Act (Working Group report, p. 117) Though this may be controversial among the ideologues, it’s not necessarily unpopular among Trump’s wealthiest crypto backers. Andreessen Horowitz endorsed extending the Patriot Act to digital assets in July.3
Molly White
@molly0xfff@hachyderm.io

Newsletter: The Trump administration cracks down on software to limit surveillance of crypto transactions, while celebrating a “deregulatory blitz” tailored for its billionaire benefactors

https://www.citationneeded.news/issue-90/

#crypto #cryptocurrency #USpol #USpolitics

Molly White
@molly0xfff@hachyderm.io

#crypto #cryptocurrency

Kevin de Patoul, chief executive of crypto market maker Keyrock, says investors should be realistic about what this is. “You’re injecting a huge amount of risk into a system that, in the end, has almost nothing backing it except the continued appreciation of the asset.” Screenshot of I Think You Should Leave episode, where the focus group man states “Oh my God, he admit it!”
Molly White
@molly0xfff@hachyderm.io

In ShopTalk (https://shoptalkshow.com/677/#t=41:40), @chriscoyier@front-end.social and @davatron5000@mastodon.social talked about my recent post about RSS, and the curation challenge posed by RSS when you mix together high-volume feeds like The Verge with more infrequent posters (solo bloggers, etc).

This is partly why I have a "news" feed that's separate from my "newsletters" feed in my blogroll (https://www.mollywhite.net/blogroll): the "news" feed is typically for high-volume outlets with multiple writers who publish multiple times a day, whereas newsletters tend to be solo or small groups of writers publishing ~weekly.

By separating them, I avoid ~weekly posters getting drowned out in a firehose of more frequent news. It's a little more up-front curation, but it works well!

#RSS

Molly White
@molly0xfff@hachyderm.io

August 7: Stablecoin issuer Paxos reaches $48 million settlement with New York financial regulators over due diligence, anti-money laundering failures

August 11: Paxos applies for national trust bank charter

🙃🙃

Molly White
@molly0xfff@hachyderm.io

aw that's nice, my library got some books for when the AI founders drop by

A children's book by Mo Willems titled "I Really Like Slop!", with an illustration of a pig in a chef's hat holding a bowl of green goop with flies around it and an elephant looking disgusted in the background
Molly White
@molly0xfff@hachyderm.io

Good reading month! Highlights were Robert Jackson Bennett's The Tainted Cup and more of the Murderbot series.

Recap video on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@molly0xfff/video/7535558278562991373

Storygraph July 2025 wrap-up page. Books: 19; pages: 7,270; av. rating 3.53. Highest rated reads: The Tainted Cup (4.5 stars), Network Effect (4.5 stars), Equal Rites (4.5 stars). Average book length: 393 pages; average time to finish 4 days. 100% fiction. 53% digital, 42% audio, 5% print. July 2025 reads: Buried Prey, John Sandford (3.5 stars) The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry, Gabrielle Zevin (3.5 stars) Extreme Prey, John Sandford (2 stars) Equal Rites, Terry Pratchett (4.5 stars) Golden Prey, John Sandford (2 stars) Twisted Prey, John Sandford (4 stars) Exit Strategy, Martha Wells (4 stars) Newt & Demon V, E.M. Griffiths (4 stars) Neon Prey, John Sandford (3 stars) Network Effect, Martha Wells (4.5 stars) The Tainted Cup, Robert Jackson Bennett (4.5 stars) The Enchanted Greenhouse, Sarah Beth Durst (4 stars) The Murder at the Vicarage, Agatha Christie (3.5 stars) The Thursday Murder Club, Richard Osman (3 stars) Masked Prey, John Sandford (2.5 stars) Ocean Prey, John Sandford (4 stars) The Investigator, John Sandford (3.5 stars) The Man Who Died Twice, Richard Osman (3 stars) Altered Carbon, Richard Morgan (4 stars)
Molly White
@molly0xfff@hachyderm.io

https://www.theblock.co/post/365343/lugano-authorities-recover-satoshi-nakamoto-statue-that-was-thrown-in-lake

#crypto #cryptocurrency

Headline from The Block: "Lugano authorities recover Satoshi Nakamoto statue that was thrown in lake"
Molly White
@molly0xfff@hachyderm.io

As the prosecution of Tornado Cash developer Roman Storm unfolds, the government’s theory is colliding with Trump administration policies that have left prosecutors arguing Storm should have followed compliance rules they’re no longer allowed to say he was required to follow.

https://www.citationneeded.news/tornado-cash-roman-storm-prosecution/

#crypto #cryptocurrency #USpolitics #USpol