January 2023 - cypherpunks - lists.cpunks.org

Bankruptcy Judge in Manhattan Rules that Crypto Customers Lost Ownership of $4.2 Billion When They Deposited It into “Earn” Accounts
by Gunnar Larson 23 Jan '23

23 Jan '23

https://wallstreetonparade.com/2023/01/bankruptcy-judge-in-manhattan-rules-… "By Pam Martens and Russ Martens: January 23, 2023 ~ Customers of bankrupt crypto platforms who have been locked out of withdrawing from their accounts for months, are learning the hard way that U.S. bankruptcy court judges in New York and Delaware have little sympathy for their plight. Instead, there has been an uncanny propensity to side with big corporate law firms like Kirkland & Ellis and Sullivan & Cromwell. A December 11, 2019 report from the Congressional Research Service cited a study that found that “60% of large business debtors filed for bankruptcy” in just two venues – the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware and the Southern District of New York – despite the fact that the businesses did not maintain their principal place of business there. The report further notes that “when debtors have substantial flexibility to choose the jurisdiction in which they file for bankruptcy, self-interest encourages those debtors to file in courts that favor debtors and their attorneys to the detriment of creditors and other stakeholders.” This month we’ve witnessed two shocking examples of what appears to be judge bias favoring the debtors and their Big Law attorneys. Last Friday, despite a mountain of conflicts of interest involving pre-bankruptcy-petition work performed by law firm Sullivan & Cromwell for collapsed crypto firm, FTX, the Delaware Bankruptcy Court Judge, John Dorsey, signed a ruling granting Sullivan & Cromwell’s aggressive desire to be named lead counsel in the matter. The more than two dozen conflicts belatedly admitted to by the law firm – only after prodding by the U.S. Trustee — included having previously provided personal legal representation to the company’s indicted CEO, Sam Bankman-Fried. The personal legal representation involved Bankman-Fried’s purchase of half a billion dollars in stock in the discount brokerage firm, Robinhood. The Department of Justice seized those shares this month. According to Congressional testimony by the newly appointed CEO of FTX, more than $8 billion of customer funds are missing. Equally stunning, Chief Judge of the Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York, Martin Glenn, issued an opinion on January 4 in the bankruptcy proceedings of another crypto exchange, Celsius, that found that customers did not own their own deposits that had been made into an interest-earning program called “Earn.” The Judge wrote: “…the Court concludes, based on Celsius’s unambiguous Terms of Use, and subject to any reserved defenses, that when the cryptocurrency assets (including stablecoins, discussed in detail below) were deposited in Earn Accounts, the cryptocurrency assets became Celsius’s property; and the cryptocurrency assets remaining in the Earn Accounts on the Petition Date became property of the Debtors’ bankruptcy estates (the ‘Estates’).” Glenn’s opinion sided with Big Law firm, Kirkland & Ellis, which is representing the debtors estate, and is a devastating development to the approximate 600,000 account holders in the Earn program. The combined value of those accounts was roughly $4.2 billion shortly before the Celsius bankruptcy filing in July. Instead of getting the contents of their accounts returned, the opinion means that these customers become unsecured creditors along with a multitude of others. Judge Glenn pointed to the Terms of Use that customers click on when they open an “Earn” account with an app. The most recent version 8 of the Celsius Terms read as follows, according to the Judge: “In consideration for the Rewards payable to you on the Eligible Digital Assets using the Earn Service . . . and the use of our Services, you grant Celsius . . . all right and title to such Eligible Digital Assets, including ownership rights, and the right, without further notice to you, to hold such Digital Assets in Celsius’ own Virtual Wallet or elsewhere, and to pledge, re-pledge, hypothecate, rehypothecate, sell, lend, or otherwise transfer or use any amount of such Digital Assets, separately or together with other property, with all attendant rights of ownership, and for any period of time, and without retaining in Celsius’ possession and/or control a like amount of Digital Assets or any other monies or assets, and to use or invest such Digital Assets in Celsius’ full discretion. You acknowledge that with respect to Digital Assets used by Celsius pursuant to this paragraph: You will not be able to exercise rights of ownership; Celsius may receive compensation in connection with lending or otherwise using Digital Assets in its business to which you have no claim or entitlement; and In the event that Celsius becomes bankrupt, enters liquidation or is otherwise unable to repay its obligations, any Eligible Digital Assets used in the Earn Service or as collateral under the Borrow Service may not be recoverable, and you may not have any legal remedies or rights in connection with Celsius’ obligations to you other than your rights as a creditor of Celsius under any applicable laws.” State securities regulators in numerous states filed objections in advance of the opinion being handed down. The State of New Jersey argued that Celsius was operating in violation of New Jersey’s securities laws by selling unregulated securities. It noted that an investigation by the official Examiner had yet to be concluded, thus any such ruling by the court was premature. The State takes the position that the assets in the Earn accounts are the property of the customers. Other objectors noted that the Celsius Terms of Use had also used the term “loan” to describe what would be happening with customer deposits. The Judge dismissed that premise."

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Re: FOIL Request No. 2022-092267 - Larson
by Gunnar Larson 23 Jan '23

23 Jan '23

Hello there: Okay, thank you for looking into the role at the advisory council role at the Las Vegas Museum of Organized Crime and Law Enforcement. "Here, the Department is withholding the personal information mentioned above because the interest of keeping that information private outweighs the competing interest of providing public access to that information. Such information about private citizens is of a personal nature and disclosure of the information would not serve any governmental purpose consistent with the intent of FOIL. See Goyer v. New York State Dep’t of Envtl. Conservation, 12 Misc.3d 261 (Sup. Ct. N.Y. County 2005). Consequently, the Department is not disclosing that information pursuant to Public Officers Law § 87(2)(b)." Thank you, Gunnar Gunnar Larson xNY.io - Bank.org 646-454-9107 On Thu, Jan 19, 2023, 9:50 AM JeanBaptiste, Pascale (DFS) < Pascale.JeanBaptiste(a)dfs.ny.gov> wrote: > Good Morning: > > > > Please see the attached determination in response to your FOIL request. > Thank you. > > > > >

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Re: FOIL Request No. 2022-089773 - Larson
by Gunnar Larson 23 Jan '23

23 Jan '23

Hello there: Okay, no problem. Have a great day! Thank you, Gunnar Gunnar Larson xNY.io - Bank.org 646-454-9107 On Thu, Jan 19, 2023, 9:51 AM JeanBaptiste, Pascale (DFS) < Pascale.JeanBaptiste(a)dfs.ny.gov> wrote: > Good Morning: > > > > Please see the attached determination in response to your FOIL request. > Thank you. > > > > > > >

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF FLORIDA CASE No. 22-14102-CV-MIDDLEBROOKS DONALD J. TRUMP, Plaintiff, v. HILLARY R. CLINTON, et al., Defendants. _________________________________________/ ORDER ON SANCTIONS
by Gunnar Larson 22 Jan '23

22 Jan '23

Brody Larson collates 53 highlights to UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF FLORIDA CASE No. 22-14102-CV-MIDDLEBROOKS DONALD J. TRUMP, Plaintiff, v. HILLARY R. CLINTON, et al., Defendants. _________________________________________/ ORDER ON SANCTIONS https://drive.google.com/file/d/1sf0y-bIBdwaa1PO0Y3hKWhhImoXXCfbR/view?usp=… I. BACKGROUND Plaintiff initiated this lawsuit on March 24, 2022, alleging that “the Defendants, blinded by political ambition, orchestrated a malicious conspiracy to disseminate patently false and injurious information about Donald J. Trump and his campaign, all in the hope of destroying his life, his political career, and rigging the 2016 Presidential Election in favor of Hillary Clinton.” (DE 1 ¶ 9). The next day, Alina Habba, Mr. Trump’s lead counsel told Fox News’ Sean Hannity: You can’t make this up. You literally cannot make a story like this up . . . and President Trump is just not going to take it anymore. If you are going to make up lies, if you are going to try to take him down, he is going to fight you back. And that is what this is, this is the beginning of all that.1 She then explained on Newsmax: What the real goal [of the suit] is, is democracy, is continuing to make sure that our elections, continuing to make sure our justice system is not obstructed by political enemies. That cannot happen. And that’s exactly what happened. They obstructed justice. They continued the false narrative . . . This grand scheme, that you could not make up, to take down an opponent. That is un-American.2 On April 20, 2022, less than a month after the Complaint was filed, Hillary Clinton moved for dismissal with prejudice. Her motion identified substantial and fundamental factual and legal flaws. Each of the other Defendants followed suit, pointing to specific problems with the claims against them. The problems in the Complaint were obvious from the start. They were identified by the Defendants not once but twice, and Mr. Trump persisted anyway. Despite this briefing and the promise “to cure any deficiencies,” Plaintiff’s counsel filed the Amended Complaint on June 21, 2022. (DE 177). The Amended Complaint failed to cure any of the defects. See DE 267, Order of Dismissal (September 8, 2022). Instead, Plaintiff added eighty new pages of largely irrelevant allegations that did nothing to salvage the legal sufficiency of his claims. (DE 267 at 64). The Amended Complaint is 193 pages in length, with 819 numbered paragraphs, and contains 14 counts, names 31 defendants, 10 John Does described as fictitious and unknown persons, and 10 ABC Corporations identified as fictitious and unknown entities. On July 14, 2022, the United States moved pursuant to the Westfall Act, 28 U.S.C. § 2679 (d)(i), to substitute itself as Defendant for James Comey, Andrew McCabe, Peter Strzok, Lisa Page, and Kevin Clinesmith. (DE 224). On July 21, 2022, I granted the motion to substitute. (DE 234). On September 8, 2022, I dismissed the case with prejudice as to all Defendants except for the United States. 3 I issued a detailed and lengthy Order, which I incorporate by reference here. (DE 267). I found that fatal substantive defects which had been clearly laid out in the first round of briefing, precluded the Plaintiff from proceeding under any of the theories presented. I found that the Amended Complaint was a quintessential shotgun pleading, that its claims were foreclosed by existing precedent, and its factual allegations were undermined and contradicted by the public reports and filings upon which it purported to rely. I reserved jurisdiction to adjudicate issues pertaining to sanctions. Undeterred by my Order and two rounds of briefing by multiple defendants, Ms. Habba continued to advance Plaintiff’s claims. In a September 10, 2022, interview with Sean Hannity, the host asked her “Why isn’t [Hillary Clinton] being held accountable for what she did?” Ms. Habba’s response reiterated misrepresentations on which this lawsuit was based: Because when you have a Clinton judge as we did here, Judge Middlebrooks who I had asked to recuse himself but insisted that he didn’t need to, he was going to be impartial, and then proceeds to write a 65-page scathing order where he basically ignored every factual basis which was backed up by indictments, by investigations, the Mueller report, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera, not to mention Durham, and all the testimony we heard there, we get dismissed. Not only do we get dismissed, he says that this is not the proper place for recourse for Donald Trump. He has no legal ramifications. Where what [sic] is the proper place for him? Because the FBI won’t help when you can do anything, obstruct justice, blatantly lie to the FBI, Sussmann’s out, he gets acquitted, where do you go? That’s the concern for me, where do you get that -- that recourse?4 She also indicated that, while Mr. Trump doubted the suit would succeed, she nevertheless “fought” to pursue it: You know, I have to share with you a story, Sean, that I have not shared with anybody. The recourse that I have at this point is obviously to appeal this to the 11th Circuit as Gregg said. But when I brought this case and we were assigned you know, this judge and we went through the recusal process, we lost five magistrates, including Reinhart [sic] who’s dealing with the boxes as we know. The former president looked at me and he told me, you know what Alina. You’re not going to win. You can’t win, just get rid of it, don’t do the case. And I said, no, we have to fight. It’s not right what happened. And you know, he was right, and it’s a sad day for me personally because I fought him on [it] and I should have listened, but I don’t want to lose hope in our system. I don’t. So, you know I’m deciding whether we’re going to appeal it.5 Defendants now move to recover attorneys’ fees and costs under Fed. R. Civ. P. 11, 28 U.S.C. § 1927, the Defend Trade Secrets Act, and/or this Court’s inherent power. (DE 280 at 1). In Part II, I find that a sanction under this Court’s inherent power is appropriate. I do so by examining Plaintiff’s (and his lawyers’) conduct throughout this litigation. In Part III, I look to Plaintiff’s conduct in other cases. And in Part IV, I determine the reasonableness of Defendants’ attorneys’ fees and costs.

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Cypherpunk revolution is the tactical pivot
by professor rat 22 Jan '23

22 Jan '23

Cryptoanarchism is the strategic pivot - and mind uploading, and interstellar exploration is the prize. " . . . mind uploading, and interstellar exploration now have powerful supporters among the billionaires of Silicon Valley, for whom the transformative potential of technology is self-evidently good. . . . " FROM https://theamericanscholar.org/the-end-is-only-the-beginning/ Reposts handballed on often only part read caveat lecter

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https://theanarchistlibrary.org/git/en bfff221c21a52704530a1caa8969766c2deaf97b
by Undescribed Horrific Abuse, One Victim & Survivor of Many 22 Jan '23

22 Jan '23

theanarchistlibrary.org runs off https://amusewiki.org/special/index which comes with git backend, great thing to discover.

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Anarchist economics work - Austrian economics suck arse
by professor rat 21 Jan '23

21 Jan '23

A case in point https://anarchistnews.org/content/uganda-kropotkin-community-garden Reposts not failed Austro-fascist experiments like Chile

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More police stations attacked in the run-up to CYPHERPUNK 2027
by professor rat 21 Jan '23

21 Jan '23

Despite our political differences I'm sure we can all celebrate the death of a police officer https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jan/21/dozens-injured-and-police-sta… Reposts not shameless efforts to glom onto background news

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Trump Not Scared by Judge’s Million-Dollar Smack, Experts Say
by Gunnar Larson 21 Jan '23

21 Jan '23

Trump Not Scared by Judge’s Million-Dollar Smack, Experts Say https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-01-21/trump-not-scared-by-judg…

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Why Scandinavian-style socialism loses to neo-liberal capitalism
by professor rat 21 Jan '23

21 Jan '23

Past a certain point - like KYC - a popular Nanny-State becomes a full-blown-police-state. Neo-liberal ideologies stop-gap fixes this. So two cheers for voting in nationalist elections. So long as bourgeois civil and human rights are observed anarchists may exploit that. But youse knew that. Solidarity and support for Norway’s leading bank as it seeks full euthanasian rights to self-cremate. https://cointelegraph.com/news/going-cashless-norway-s-digital-currency-pro… Reposts not liberal fascist reprints

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