{"id":665,"date":"2026-08-02T05:14:39","date_gmt":"2026-08-01T21:14:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.btcethdata.com\/?btc_ct_news=onchain-in-court-what-happened-in-crypto-legal-news-this-week"},"modified":"2026-08-02T17:11:19","modified_gmt":"2026-08-02T09:11:19","slug":"onchain-in-court-what-happened-in-crypto-legal-news-this-week","status":"publish","type":"btc_ct_news","link":"https:\/\/www.btcethdata.com\/?btc_ct_news=onchain-in-court-what-happened-in-crypto-legal-news-this-week","title":{"rendered":"Onchain, in court: What happened in crypto legal news this week"},"content":{"rendered":"

Wife of former FTX executive seeks to preclude her husband\u2019s guilty plea<\/h2>\n

In a Friday filing with the US District Court for the Southern District of New York (SDNY) over campaign finance charges, Michelle Bond\u2019s legal team asked the court to consider precluding evidence related to former FTX Digital Markets co-CEO Ryan Salame, her husband who is currently serving a 90-month sentence after he pleaded guilty in 2023.<\/p>\n

Bond faces campaign finance charges<\/a> alleging that her unsuccessful 2022 congressional run in New York was partially funded by contributions from FTX facilitated by Salame. As part of the filings this week, Bond asked the court to exclude evidence of her husband\u2019s guilty plea and \u201crelated plea materials,\u201d in which the former executive admitted to making \u201cpolitical contributions in [his] name that were funded by transfers from the bank accounts\u201d of an entity tied to FTX.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Court should preclude the government from introducing or referring to Mr. Salame\u2019s guilty plea or any related plea materials, because their minimal probative value is substantially outweighed by the risk of unfair prejudice to Ms. Bond,\u201d said the filing.<\/p>\n

Bond\u2019s lawyers added:<\/p>\n

\u201c[…] Mr. Salame\u2019s plea materials lack any probative value as to Ms. Bond\u2019s guilt, knowledge, or intent. Mr. Salame\u2019s plea is an admission of his own guilt, not evidence of Ms. Bond\u2019s state of mind or participation in any charged offense.\u201d\u00a0<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The motion also requested the court include information related to Bond\u2019s \u201ccontemporaneous divorce and custody proceedings,\u201d arguing that though she and Salame were not married at the time of the alleged crime, the former FTX executive was not an \u201cordinary \u2018individual\u2019 donor\u201d contributing to her campaign.<\/p>\n

Related: <\/strong><\/em>US Senate unanimously adopts resolution opposing clemency for SBF<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

The criminal case is one of the last involving individuals tied to the defunct crypto exchange following its 2022 collapse. Salame, former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried and former Alameda Research CEO Caroline Ellison were all sentenced to prison for their role in the misuse of customer funds and related charges.<\/p>\n

Former congressman ordered to pay $35,000 over Kalshi bet<\/h2>\n

George Santos, a former New York House representative who was expelled from Congress in 2023, was ordered<\/a> to pay a $17,500 civil monetary penalty and $17,570 in disgorgement from profits earned over bets placed on prediction markets platform Kalshi. The order from the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) stemmed from Santos trading on event contracts betting on his appearance at the 2026 State of the Union address in Washington, DC.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile buying and selling positions in this market, Santos posted on social media about his plans to attend or not attend the SOTU,\u201d said the CFTC. \u201cIn his social media posts, Santos made a series of material misrepresentations and omissions about whether he would attend the SOTU. After these posts, the SOTU contract prices moved in a direction that was favorable to Santos\u2019 positions which allowed him to make over $17,500.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

February X post about his State of the Union attendance. Source: <\/em>George Santos<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

Santos is barred from trading on prediction market platforms for three years as part of the order. He was also previously sentenced<\/a> to 87 months in prison for wire fraud and aggravated identity theft in 2025, but served only three months before his sentence was commuted by US President Donald Trump. <\/p>\n

US solider accused of making $400,000 Polymarket bet seeks to dismiss charges<\/h2>\n

Gannon Ken Van Dyke is a US soldier who faces charges for allegedly making more than $400,000<\/a> on Polymarket event contracts using nonpublic information tied to a military operation involving the removal of Venezuelan President Nicol\u00e1s Maduro in January. He was involved in the operation removing Maduro, according to the US Justice Department, and allegedly used insider information to bet whether the Venezuelan president would be removed from power, leading to criminal charges in April.<\/p>\n

In a Friday SDNY filing, Van Dyke\u2019s legal team filed a 51-page memo in support of a motion to dismiss the indictment based on different legal theories, including that the Commodity Exchange Act (CEA) at the center of three of the charges was \u201cambiguous\u201d in treating event contracts as \u201cswaps.\u201d <\/p>\n

Although the CFTC under Chair Michael Selig has claimed that the agency has \u201cexclusive jurisdiction\u201d over prediction markets on the basis that event contracts are treated as \u201cswaps,\u201d Van Dyke\u2019s lawyers said the lack of clarity was sufficient to dismiss some of the charges.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf Congress, executive branch agencies, and courts all find the \u2018swap\u2019 definition ambiguous, how can ordinary citizens have fair notice that prediction market wagers are covered by the CEA?\u201d said the filing. \u201cThey cannot.\u201d<\/p>\n

The case is expected to have significant implications for lawmakers and government officials using prediction markets. Trump\u2019s teleprompter operator reportedly made more than $100,000<\/a> using Kalshi event contracts related to the president\u2019s speeches.<\/p>\n

Based on a schedule filed in June, Van Dyke is potentially looking at a trial<\/a> beginning in late 2026 or early 2027. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges.<\/p>\n

Magazine: <\/strong><\/em>Here\u2019s why the CLARITY Act\u2019s ethics deal may be so hard to reach<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

Related:<\/strong> Bitcoin price<\/a> \u00b7 BTC live chart<\/a> \u00b7 Ethereum price<\/a> \u00b7 ETH gas fee<\/a> \u00b7 Bitcoin price today<\/a> \u00b7 Top 10 cryptocurrencies<\/a><\/p>\n

Source: Cointelegraph<\/a> \/ Turner Wright<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A case tied to defunct crypto exchange FTX moves forward, a soldier seeks to dismiss over a Polymarket bet and a former congressman was ordered to pay $35,000 for manipulative trading.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":666,"template":"","btc_ct_section":[7],"class_list":["post-665","btc_ct_news","type-btc_ct_news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","btc_ct_section-latest"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.btcethdata.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/btc_ct_news\/665","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.btcethdata.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/btc_ct_news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.btcethdata.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/btc_ct_news"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.btcethdata.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/666"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.btcethdata.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=665"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"btc_ct_section","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.btcethdata.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fbtc_ct_section&post=665"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}