Today in crypto, New York Attorney General Letitia James filed suit against Coinbase and Gemini in the latest state legal challenge to prediction markets, shipping companies with vessels stranded near the Strait of Hormuz are reportedly being targeted by scammers posing as Iranian authorities, demanding Bitcoin or USDt for safe passage, and Arbitrum froze $71 million in Ether tied to the Kelp exploit.
New York targets Coinbase, Gemini in fresh crackdown on prediction markets
New York's attorney general has filed lawsuits against crypto exchange operators Coinbase Financial Markets and Gemini Titan for allegedly violating state gambling laws, according to court records cited by Reuters.
Copies of the complaints show the state alleges both exchanges failed to obtain licenses from the New York State Gaming Commission to operate their markets, Reuters reported.
“Gambling by another name is still gambling, and it is not exempt from regulation under our state laws and Constitution,” Attorney General Letitia James said in a statement.
James said the lawsuit seeks to recover alleged illegal profits from operating prediction markets in the state, as well as restitution, and would bar Coinbase and Gemini from offering such products to individuals under 21.
Scammers demand crypto from stranded ships in Strait of Hormuz: Report
Fraudulent actors posing as Iranian authorities have reportedly sent messages to shipping companies whose vessels remain stranded west of the Strait of Hormuz, demanding payment in cryptocurrency for safe passage.
On Monday, maritime risk company Marisks issued a warning saying unknown groups had contacted shipowners claiming to represent Iranian security services and requesting transit “fees” in Bitcoin (BTC) or USDt (USDT) in exchange for clearance through the strait, according to Reuters.
“These specific messages are a scam,” Marisks reportedly said, adding that they do not originate from Iranian authorities. Tehran has not publicly commented on the claims.
The alerts come as the strategic waterway remains largely closed following the outbreak of conflict in the Middle East. The Strait of Hormuz, a critical chokepoint for global energy flows, previously handled around one-fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas exports before hostilities escalated in the region.
Earlier this month, reports said Iran was considering charging ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz a tariff payable in Bitcoin, with empty tankers allowed free passage while others could be charged around $1 per barrel of oil.
Arbitrum freezes $71 million in Ether tied to Kelp hack
Ethereum layer-2 blockchain Arbitrum said on Monday that its security council, a 12-member body elected by its community, took “emergency action” to freeze 30,766 Ether (ETH) held in a wallet connected to the exploit of the Kelp protocol that happened on Saturday.
It said that the ETH had been moved to “an intermediary frozen wallet” and was “no longer accessible to the address that originally held the funds, and can only be moved by further action by Arbitrum governance.”
Multiple X users criticized the freeze, with Griff Green, a member of the Arbitrum Security Council, saying that the group “did not make this decision lightly, there were countless hours of debates, technical, practical, ethical and political.”
Kelp, a liquid restaking protocol, was hacked for at least $293 million on Saturday through its LayerZero-powered bridge and has caused millions of dollars' worth of “bad debt” in the highly interconnected crypto lending market.
