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Blockchain Association sees leadership shift shortly after crypto Clarity Act fizzles

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Blockchain Association sees leadership shift shortly after crypto Clarity Act fizzles

Summer Mersinger is leaving the helm of the Blockchain Association, one of the crypto industry’s leading advocacy groups, a week after the sector weathered a major legislative setback in the loss of the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act.

Mersinger will be replaced — for now — by Kristin Smith, the organization’s original CEO who ran the association from its launch in 2018 until 15 months ago, according to a Friday statement. The handover is set for October 16, closing a tumultuous era that saw major crypto wins in Washington and a significant defeat last week, when the U.S. Senate failed to advance the Clarity Act in a wide loss in which all the Senate’s Democrats and some Republicans declined to support it.

“I’m proud of how far we’ve come together, from the GENIUS Act to real regulatory clarity at the SEC and CFTC,” said Mersinger, who’d taken the job after leaving her post as a member of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, in a statement. “Kristin built this association from the ground up, and BA is in good hands. I’ll be cheering them on.”



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Appeals court rules that states can regulate Kalshi’s sports prediction markets, dealing another legal blow to platforms

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Appeals court rules that states can regulate Kalshi’s sports prediction markets, dealing another legal blow to platforms

The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled on Friday that states have a right to regulate sports-related event contracts on prediction market platforms, marking a second major legal defeat for the industry as a fight at the U.S. Supreme Court looms. 

In a unanimous decision, the three judge panel said that Ohio and Tennessee are permitted to apply their state gambling laws to Kalshi’s sports-related event contracts. 

“We hold that Kalshi has not shown that its sports-event contracts satisfy the statutory definition of a ‘swap’ so as to fall within the scope of the CFTC’s ‘exclusive jurisdiction,’” the opinion said. 

Kalshi and other prediction market platforms argue all event contracts are swaps, a type of financial derivative that is regulated by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. However, states assert that platforms’ sports-related offerings amount to gambling, and thus should be regulated by their laws related to sports betting. 

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This disagreement has spawned a legal battle across the country as states sue platforms for operating what they often claim are illegal gambling operations, while exchanges also sue states to block them from enforcing local laws on what they argue should be federally-regulated financial exchanges. 

The CFTC has sued nine states to defend what it believes is its exclusive right to regulate event contracts, given to it by the Commodity Exchange Act. But the 6th Circuit panel rejected that notion. 

“Even assuming that Kalshi’s sports-event contracts are swaps, we alternatively hold that the CEA neither expressly nor impliedly preempts Ohio’s or Tennessee’s gambling laws,” the opinion said. The decision overturns a Tennessee federal district court ruling that sided with Kalshi, and reaffirms a decision by a federal district court in Ohio that sided with the states’ argument. 

“Kalshi attempted an end run around Tennessee law to avoid any of the rules or taxes associated with sports gambling. They failed,” said Jonathan Skrmetti, Tennessee’s attorney general.

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“Sports wagering is heavily regulated because it can do a lot of harm, and I’m glad we thwarted Kalshi’s efforts to remove every safeguard and put Tennessee sports bettors at risk,” he added.

Kalshi nor the CFTC immediately responded to requests for comment. CNBC has also reached out to the Ohio attorney general’s office for comments. 

The latest ruling now means prediction market platforms have notched two losses in legal fights at the appeals court level. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled last month that Nevada has a right to regulate sports-related event contracts, stating that they were sports bets and not swaps. Meanwhile, the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against New Jersey in April and said the CFTC has the exclusive right to regulate all swaps, no matter the contract type. 

New Jersey appealed that decision in a petition to the Supreme Court earlier this month. It is not clear whether the Supreme Court will take up the case now, or wait until further decisions from circuit courts on the issue of sports-related event contracts are delivered. 

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Disclosure: CNBC and Kalshi have a commercial relationship that includes customer acquisition and a minority investment.



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The True Story Behind ‘Unabomber’

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The True Story Behind 'Unabomber'

The psychological experiment scenes presented a different challenge. Tremblay was strapped to a chair, limiting his movement and expressions. “I learned to utilize that unfamiliar and uncomfortable environment to my advantage,” Tremblay says. “Because Ted himself in that moment is also experiencing that discomfort and unfamiliarity at the same time.”

How accurate is the Netflix movie?

Unabomber is grounded in documented events from Kaczynski’s life, but the film also takes creative liberties with gaps in the historical record.

“But that was fun for the filmmakers and us actors as we got to create something unique from the story we pieced together and that excited me because it distinguishes our film from other tellings of the Unabomber’s story,” Tremblay says.

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For Metz, the film was also an opportunity to explore parts of Kaczynski’s story that are less familiar to audiences.

“In developing the film, we found that the psychological experiments conducted on Ted Kaczynski during his time at Harvard were unknown to most people, some were not even aware he attended Harvard,” Metz says. “While our film doesn’t offer a complete biography, we chose to present a filmic take on his story and a narrative opening into the mind of Ted Kaczynski.”



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OG.com Pursues CFTC Approval to Launch Single-Stock Perpetual Futures

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Crypto Breaking News

OG.com Markets has submitted a filing to the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) seeking approval to launch cash-settled perpetual futures linked to individual stocks—an effort to bring a product format widely used in crypto derivatives into traditional equity markets.

According to the CFTC filing released Thursday, the proposed rules would cover single-stock futures that do not expire (“perpetuals”), trade around the clock, and are designed to offer continuous exposure without requiring traders to roll positions into new contract months.

Key takeaways

  • OG.com Markets is pursuing CFTC approval for perpetual futures tied to specific U.S. equities.
  • The product is described as cash-settled and perpetual, with continuous trading for five days a week.
  • Regulatory momentum comes as other major crypto trading and prediction-market players also seek permission to offer similar stock-linked perps.
  • The CFTC has been building a framework for perpetual contracts through approvals and temporary relief tied to specific arrangements.

OG.com’s CFTC filing outlines stock-linked “perps”

In a Thursday filing with the CFTC, OG.com Markets outlined a proposed rule set intended to enable the listing of cash-settled single-stock futures that never expire. The proposal also calls for trading to operate 24 hours a day, five days a week.

Perpetual futures differ from traditional futures by removing the need for contract expiration. For traders, that structure can reduce the operational friction of rolling between dated contracts, while for markets it can support more continuous liquidity and positioning.

The concept is not new in crypto. Perpetual contracts were pioneered in digital-asset derivatives, with BitMEX introducing an early version of the model in 2016—helping make “perps” one of the most actively traded derivatives formats in the sector.

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How OG.com ties into the wider prediction-markets and derivatives shift

OG.com Markets recently emerged as an independent prediction markets and derivatives platform after being spun out from crypto exchange Crypto.com. At the time of the separation, OG.com was described as being valued at $5 billion, and CEO Kris Marszalek said the company planned to expand beyond prediction markets into futures and perpetual contracts.

Shortly after the spin-off, Robinhood acquired an equity stake in OG.com as part of a multi-year agreement. The deal includes the use of OG.com’s CFTC-regulated derivatives exchange and clearinghouse for prediction markets. That backdrop matters because it places OG.com’s U.S. equity-derivatives ambitions directly within a set of business relationships already aligned with regulated derivatives infrastructure.

Importantly, while OG.com is now aiming at stock-linked perpetual futures, its current positioning originates in prediction markets—where the mechanics of cash settlement and continuous trading can be attractive to participants who want to express views over time without physical delivery.

Not alone: Coinbase, Kraken’s parent, and Kalshi have also filed

OG.com’s move fits into a growing cluster of filings from platforms attempting to introduce perpetual futures tied to individual U.S. stocks. Earlier coverage noted that Coinbase, Kraken parent Payward through its Bitnomial exchange, and prediction market platform Kalshi all filed to offer similar stock-linked perpetual futures.

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The timing also reflects a regulatory environment that has been more permissive toward certain crypto-adjacent activities than some market participants expected. The shift gained attention after U.S. Senate action failed to advance the proposed CLARITY Act on Sept. 15—yet regulators continued moving forward on crypto initiatives through other channels.

In particular, after the Senate vote, the SEC cleared limited onchain trading of tokenized U.S. stocks under its Innovation Exemption, and the CFTC expanded regulatory relief for software providers that connect users to regulated derivatives platforms, including those offering perpetual contracts.

The CFTC’s groundwork for perpetual contracts

The CFTC’s approach to perpetual futures has not been confined to one company or one application. The agency previously began laying out a path for perpetual contracts through a combination of case-by-case review and targeted relief.

In May, the CFTC established a case-by-case review process for perpetual contracts and approved Kalshi’s Bitcoin perpetual futures product. It then followed in June with temporary relief allowing certain registered exchanges to convert existing crypto futures into contracts without expiration dates.

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That incremental regulatory scaffolding helps explain why the market is converging on perpetual structures now. Even without a single comprehensive rule that automatically covers every new product variation, firms can structure applications around how the CFTC has already evaluated perpetual contracts—making the approval process feel more navigable than it might have been in earlier years.

For investors and traders, the key question is how quickly the CFTC can translate precedent from crypto perpetuals and targeted relief into approvals for cash-settled, stock-linked perps. Watch for updates on the OG.com rulemaking process and whether regulators request changes to trading mechanics, settlement terms, or operational guardrails as these filings move through review.

Risk & affiliate notice: Crypto assets are volatile and capital is at risk. This article may contain affiliate links. Read full disclosure



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How Does Climate Change Impact Nor’easters?

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How Does Climate Change Impact Nor'easters?

“Not every storm is becoming more intense, but the intense storms are becoming more intense—whether that be a thunderstorm, a hurricane, one of these nor’easters,” Barlow says.

One thing that doesn’t seem to be changing is the number of storms, Barlow adds. “We’re not seeing any changes in the overall average, and the total number of storms might actually be going down a little bit,” he notes.

In an ever warming world, storms are only going to continue to intensify. Climate change is increasing the number of “billion dollar disasters,” disasters that top at least $1 billion in damage, that take place in the U.S. each year. The average length of time between billion-dollar disasters has fallen—from 82 days during the 1980s to 16 days during the last 10 years. In 2025, the U.S. experienced a billion-dollar weather or climate disaster once every 10 days. 

“Until we stop increasing the amount of greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere, the intensity of rainfall, the intensity of these storms, will continue to increase as well,” says Barlow. “Until we stop making things worse, things are going to keep getting worse.”

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In ‘Ha-Chan, Shake Your Booty!,’ Dance and Desire Are Remedies for Grief

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In 'Ha-Chan, Shake Your Booty!,' Dance and Desire Are Remedies for Grief

When Haru meets Fedir—whose wife is a Paris-based dance champion, though the marriage is an open one—she glimpses fresh possibilities, or at least just an adventure. In an early scene, after she and Fedir have had a pleasant, platonic dinner together, they’re ready to part ways in the street. A crew of drunken businessmen jostle Haru, and Fedir stands up for her. What follows is a cleverly choreographed dream ballet—though the genre is actually the bachata, one of the dance forms Fedir teaches, its movements an expression of longing and heartache—in which Fedir defends Haru’s honor against this gang of boorish men. Other passersby join in, and the scene becomes a metaphor for the act of rejoining life. By the end of the evening, Haru and Fedir have tumbled into bed.

Their two hookups are enjoyable and tender—until the wife shows up, and Haru realizes she has feelings she can’t control. Kikuchi shifts gears smoothly: One minute, she shows how Haru is nearly deadened by sorrow. The next, her exhilaration becomes a kind of artificial sunshine. But a flash of anger and jealousy causes her to act out, in a scene that makes you recoil a bit even as you laugh. Kikuchi is perhaps best known for her roles in movies like Babel and Pacific Rim, as well as HBO’s Tokyo Vice, several episodes of which Wladyka directed. Here, she captures the spirit of a woman who longs to get back to being herself, if only she could remember who that self was. Haru is both breezy and cautious, and totally lost. By the movie’s end, she has found her way forward, because she realizes there’s no going back. She’ll have to be a new person, encompassing the experiences and memories of the old one. Kikuchi captures that difficult butterfly transition as it unfolds; it’s both painful and funny to watch. But in the end, she shows us how Haru finds her way back to the music, which is the only way she can move into the future, one note, and one dance step, at a time.   



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Tether Says ‘Limited’ Exposure after Prosecutors Seize $84M from Business

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Tether says it had ‘limited’ exposure to bank linked to $84M US seizure

Tether says it had ‘limited’ exposure to bank linked to $84M US seizure

US prosecutors alleged that a payments business illegally transferred hundreds of millions of dollars at the direction of EQIBank, where Tether holds some assets.



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Death of Former Hack VC Partner Hsin-Ju Chuang Ruled Suicide

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Crypto Breaking News

Hsin-Ju Chuang, a former partner at the crypto venture firm Hack VC, has died at age 37, according to the San Bernardino County Sheriff-Coroner. The county’s Coroner Death Registry later listed her death as a suicide.

California Highway Patrol officers responded on Aug. 24 to a report southbound on Interstate 15 south of Field Road in Harvard, California, where Chuang was pronounced dead at the scene, the sheriff’s office said in a coroner press release linked in the report.

Key takeaways

  • San Bernardino County Sheriff-Coroner records list Chuang’s death as a suicide after an Aug. 24 response on Interstate 15.
  • Chuang previously worked across major crypto ecosystems, including roles tied to Stellar and Solana.
  • Hack VC said it had not spoken directly with Chuang for more than 10 months and had no additional details about the circumstances.
  • Chuang had publicly accused Hack VC of mistreatment and said she planned to release evidence, according to her earlier posts.

What authorities and county records show

Officer response details point to an Aug. 24 incident on Interstate 15 in Harvard, California. Chuang was pronounced dead at the scene, according to the information referenced from the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s media materials.

A search of the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department Coroner Death Register shows Chuang’s entry dated Aug. 24, 2026. The registry later categorized her death as suicide.

Chuang’s background in crypto investing and projects

Chuang’s professional profile traces a career spanning both venture and ecosystem growth. Per her LinkedIn profile, she founded Dystopia Labs and held leadership roles that included head of growth at Stellar and Solana.

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In venture, she joined Hack VC in 2021 as a venture partner. Later, she became partner and head of platform in 2025, according to the same publicly listed career history.

Hack VC’s statement and what it said it knew

Hack VC co-founder and managing partner Alexander Pack said the firm was “shocked and saddened” by Chuang’s death and extended condolences to her family, friends, and those close to her.

Pack added that Hack VC had not spoken directly with Chuang for more than 10 months. He said the firm was not aware of the circumstances surrounding her death and that it had “no further information,” urging people to be respectful of those grieving.

Earlier public accusations and unresolved questions

Before her death, Chuang had publicly accused Hack VC of mistreating her during her time at the firm. In her posts, she said she intended to release evidence supporting her allegations.

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In that context, Chuang also described attempting suicide after experiencing what she characterized as mistreatment while she was “going through a serious medical emergency,” according to the account presented in the earlier public statement referenced in the report.

With the coroner registry now listing her death as suicide, the relationship between those prior allegations and the circumstances of her death remains a sensitive and unconfirmed area that readers should approach cautiously. Hack VC’s statement emphasizes it did not have recent direct contact and did not know the circumstances at the time of her passing.

Chuang’s death also raises a broader question for the crypto industry: how mental-health and workplace conflict are handled, documented, and addressed—especially in highly networked environments where reputational battles can move quickly into public channels.

For now, what matters most is what additional public information, if any, emerges from the coroner process and whether any further verified details about the earlier claims become available. Observers will likely watch for follow-up statements from those close to Chuang, as well as any developments that clarify the gap between her earlier allegations and the circumstances surrounding her death.

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Risk & affiliate notice: Crypto assets are volatile and capital is at risk. This article may contain affiliate links. Read full disclosure



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Bitget Updates: $388M in Assets Impacted by Security Breach

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Crypto Breaking News

Bitget has revised its accounting of losses from last week’s security breach, raising the figure tied to attacker-controlled addresses to $387.5 million—up from an earlier estimate of $352 million. The updated incident report, released Thursday and followed by another update Friday, also said the incident remains contained and that no further unauthorized transfers are possible.

The exchange reiterated that it will continue pausing withdrawals and said it has launched a bounty program intended to help freeze or recover affected assets. The key change in Bitget’s latest disclosure is a “more complete accounting” of transfers, including assets that were not included in the initial estimate.

Key takeaways

  • Bitget updated its breach figures: $387.5 million was transferred to attacker-controlled addresses, not $352 million.
  • The exchange said the revision reflects additional accounting of affected assets on Zcash and TRON, without indicating any new unauthorized activity.
  • Withdrawals remain paused, while Bitget launched a bounty program aimed at freezing or recovering funds.
  • Bitget reported involvement of multiple networks, including EVM chains, XRP Ledger, Zcash, and TRON.

What Bitget changed in its incident report

In its revised accounting, Bitget said that the updated figure comes from a fuller reconciliation of transfers that occurred during the incident. The exchange attributed the adjustment to affected assets on Zcash and TRON that were left out of the initial estimate, stating that the new number does not reflect further unauthorized transfers.

Bitget’s statement emphasized containment: the company said the incident remains contained and that “no further unauthorized transfers are possible.” For users watching the case, the practical implication is that the revision is about measurement and scope rather than evidence of an expanded compromise.

Withdrawals paused as attacker routing is traced on-chain

In its Friday update, Bitget confirmed it will continue pausing withdrawals. At the same time, the platform said it has launched a bounty program designed to incentivize efforts to freeze or recover the assets that were moved to addresses controlled by the attacker.

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Bitget also pointed to on-chain tracing in explaining where funds went. According to the exchange, “$387.5 million were transferred to attacker-controlled addresses,” with the revised total about $35 million higher than the earlier number. In other words, the updated report is not just a re-phrasing of loss estimates—it is an adjustment tied to the mapping of those transfers to attacker-controlled endpoints.

Networks and assets implicated across the ecosystem

Bitget’s revised incident report lists multiple affected blockchain environments. The exchange said the incident involved addresses on Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) networks as well as the XRP Ledger, Zcash, and TRON.

The follow-up disclosure also enumerated several assets the attackers allegedly took. According to Bitget, stolen or affected assets included XRP, Ether (ETH), Tether’s USDt (USDT), Zcash (ZEC), USDC, USDT0, XAUt, BNB, AVAX, and TRX.

For investors and traders, the multi-network nature of the incident matters because it affects how quickly risk can be reduced. Different chains can require different monitoring, compliance processes, and—critically—different operational steps for exchanges trying to halt or limit withdrawals and protect hot and intermediate custody.

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Broader industry context and what remains unclear

Even with the clarification on the corrected loss figure, Bitget’s security breach remains among the largest incidents to hit the industry. The article’s context highlights that hackers stole about $1.5 billion worth of Ether from Bybit in February 2025, underscoring how damaging major exchange compromises can be even when withdrawals are halted and funds are monitored.

Notably, Bitget’s later update did not directly address comments made by CEO Gracy Chen from Thursday. In earlier coverage, Chen speculated that a North Korean hacking group might be behind the attack, citing what she described as “IP clues.” The revised incident report, as presented in the update, focuses on accounting and containment rather than attributing the breach to a specific actor.

That leaves an important tension for readers: while the exchange’s updated figures aim to settle questions about scale, attribution and motive appear to remain separate and unresolved in Bitget’s latest public disclosures. As the bounty program ramps up and tracing work continues, additional information could emerge—either from on-chain evidence, coordination efforts to identify and freeze assets, or follow-on updates from the exchange.

For now, market participants should watch whether Bitget later provides more details on recovery efforts and the timeline for when withdrawals might resume, alongside any further revisions to affected totals. The updated numbers suggest the incident’s spread is better understood, but the path from attacker-controlled transfers to recoverable funds—and the question of who carried out the breach—will likely determine the next phase of this story.

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‘Hands Off!’: European Leaders Reject Trump’s Call to Quit the ICC

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‘Hands Off!’: European Leaders Reject Trump's Call to Quit the ICC
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during the 81st session of the United Nations (U.N.) General Assembly in New York on Sept. 22, 2026. —Michael M. Santiago—Getty Images

European leaders are rallying behind the International Criminal Court (ICC) after President Donald Trump called for countries to “immediately” resign from the organization, amid a broader push by the U.S. Administration to dismantle it.

Irish Taoiseach (Prime Minister) Micheál Martin pledged his support for the intergovernmental organization and said Ireland “strongly opposes efforts to undermine the court,” during his speech at the United Nations General Assembly in New York on Thursday.

Referencing the Hague-based court as he discussed the conflict in Ukraine, Martin said Russia must be held “accountable” for its actions. “There can be no impunity for war crimes… that is why Ireland is a steadfast supporter of the International Criminal Court,” he said, stressing that all “measures against it should be immediately withdrawn.”

Netherlands Prime Minister Rob Jetten issued a similar defense of the ICC earlier in the day. Without directly mentioning Trump or the U.S., Jetten reflected on how the court has come “under attack” and asked how can anyone “possibly be opposed to prosecuting the very worst crimes?”

“​I ⁠believe there can be only one response,” he continued. “To say: ‘hands off’ the ICC, and all those other institutions that protect the international legal order.” The remarks drew loud applause from attending delegates.

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The ICC is recognized as the world’s highest criminal court. It draws its jurisdiction from the Rome Statute, a treaty that went into effect in 2002 and is ratified by 125 countries. Neither the U.S. nor Israel is a state party to the Rome Statute, and therefore they do not recognize the jurisdiction of the court.

Trump has long complained that the ICC oversteps its authority and should not claim jurisdiction over U.S. citizens. His calls against the organization culminated in a public appeal at the U.N. on Tuesday. During his 45-minute speech, Trump called “on all nations that are members of the ICC to officially resign from this rogue institution, immediately.”

He said the U.S. is “opposed to the out-of-control institution known as the ICC” and “will never allow U.S. service members or anyone else to be investigated or given show trials by an anti-American tribunal with no jurisdiction over us.”

His call to action was swiftly rejected by German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul.

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“We will, of course, not be doing that,” Wadephul told Germany’s Deutschlandfunk radio station on Wednesday. He described the court as “an important institution” and said the issue is “one of the areas where we do indeed have to acknowledge a regrettable difference in policy from the U.S. Administration.”

Similarly, European Council president Antonio Costa said the E.U. stands “firmly behind” the ICC and argued it’s “unacceptable to threaten or attack the International Criminal Court, its officials, and its staff.”

At the U.N. assembly, the only nation to follow Trump’s lead appeared to be Naoero, a microstate island country formerly known as Nauru.

Naoero President David Adeang said in his speech late Tuesday that he would formally withdraw his country from the Rome Statute, citing the ICC’s “increasing irrelevance.”

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“Naoero joins a ⁠growing number of nations standing up for their sovereignty against the ICC’s illegitimate overreach,” said U.S. Assistant Secretary for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Michael DeSombre, after meeting with Naoero’s Deputy Foreign Minister.

Leaving the ICC is neither an immediate or clean break, experts tell TIME.

Withdrawal takes at least a year, and states remain bound to cooperate with proceedings opened before their departure, according to Sergey Vasiliev, a professor of international law at Open University Netherlands.

“The state that intends to withdraw has to file a notification of withdrawal from the statute, and it comes into effect only one year after such notification has been received by the depository of the treaty,” he says. “Those states are still obliged to provide full cooperation to the court for all the proceedings and cases that started while they were a state party and right until the moment when their withdrawal becomes effective.”

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In addition to Naoero, five other states—Niger, Burkina Faso, Mali, Venezuela, and Chad—have moved to withdraw. Vasiliev calls their planned departures a “serious loss,” but says it is not “lethal to the existence of the ICC.”

Hungary formally moved to withdraw from the ICC last year under former Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, but his successor, Péter Magyar, reversed the decision, signaling its renewed commitment to the organization.

Netherlands’ Prime Minister Rob Jetten speaks during the 81st United Nations General Assembly in New York on Sept. 24, 2026. —Leonardo MUNOZ—Getty Images

A timeline of Trump’s campaign against the ICC

Trump’s complaints with the ICC date back to his first term. In late 2017, the ICC requested to open an investigation into American actions overseas, looking into alleged war crimes committed by U.S. personnel in Afghanistan.

Trump pushed back and challenge the court’s authority. During his speech at the U.N. General Assembly in 2018, he claimed the ICC had “no jurisdiction, no legitimacy, and no authority” and vowed to “never surrender America’s sovereignty to an unelected, unaccountable, global bureaucracy.”

“The United States has always objected to the ICC’s exercise of jurisdiction over its service members,” says Vasiliev, noting this has been an ongoing point of contention.

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However, “the ICC has jurisdiction over crimes committed on the state party territory, even when those crimes are committed by non-state party nationals,” he adds.

In 2020, Trump signed an Executive Order issuing sanctions in response to the ICC’s Afghanistan investigation, calling the court’s actions “illegitimate assertions of jurisdiction.” The sanctions and visa restrictions against personnel of the ICC were later revoked by former President Joe Biden in 2021.

In recent years, the Trump Administration’s arguments with the ICC have largely centered on the court’s investigation into possible Israeli war crimes in Gaza. The court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a Trump ally, and Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant in November 2024.

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani had previously pledged to execute the ICC’s warrant and have Netanyahu arrested when he traveled to the city for the U.N. assembly. But in July, Mamdani conceded that his Administration had “reviewed every avenue available,” only to find they did not have the jurisdiction.

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Shortly after returning to office in early 2025, Trump signed an Executive Order declaring a “national emergency” and imposing sanctions on the ICC over what he said was the court’s “illegitimate and baseless actions targeting America and our close ally Israel.”

Efforts were ramped up again in July, when U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced a “whole-of-government” effort “to systematically disable the ICC’s ability to operate, target American servicemen or officials, or otherwise threaten American sovereignty.”

A month later, the State Department imposed sanctions on the ICC’s president, Judge Tomoko Akane, and Abdoulaye Seye, a Senegalese senior trial lawyer for the Office of the Prosecutor.
The ICC referred to the sanctions as “a flagrant attack against the independence of an impartial judicial institution which operates pursuant to the mandate conferred by its states parties.”



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Bitget Clarifies $388M in Assets Affected by Security Breach

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Crypto exchange Bitget released an updated incident report on Thursday’s security breach, clarifying that about $388 million in assets had been affected and not $352 million as previously reported.

In a Friday update, Bitget said it would continue to pause withdrawals following the security breach, and the company had launched a bounty program to incentivize freezing or recovering the assets. The exchange confirmed that “$387.5 million were transferred to attacker-controlled addresses” based on onchain tracing — about $35 million more than reported on Thursday. 

“The revised figure reflects a more complete accounting of transfers that occurred during the incident, adding affected assets on Zcash and TRON that were not included in the initial estimate,” said Bitget. “It does not reflect further unauthorized transfers. The incident remains contained and no further unauthorized transfers are possible.”

According to Bitget, the incident included addresses on Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) networks, the XRP Ledger, Zcash and TRON. Among the assets stolen were XRP, Ether (ETH), Tether’s USDt (USDT), Zcash (ZEC), USDC, USDT0, XAUt, BNB, AVAX and TRX. The follow-up report did not address comments made by CEO Gracy Chen on Thursday speculating that a North Korean hacking group may have been behind the attack.

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Even with the update on the assets transferred to hacker-controlled addresses, the Bitget security breach remains one of the largest to impact the industry. Hackers stole about $1.5 billion worth of Ether from Bybit in February 2025.

Related: Symbiosis says recovered 15 BTC from bridge hack, offers 20% bounty

Cointelegraph is committed to independent, transparent journalism. This news article is produced in accordance with Cointelegraph’s Editorial Policy and aims to provide accurate and timely information. Readers are encouraged to verify information independently.



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