Today in crypto, the US FBI has dropped its investigation into Kraken co-founder Jesse Powell. Meanwhile, spot Bitcoin ETFs ended a 12-day inflow streak on Monday, as BTC continued to struggle below the $120,000 mark. Lawyers for Tornado Cash developer Roman Storm are reportedly weighing a motion for mistrial following testimony from a government witness.
FBI ends probe of Kraken co-founder, returns confiscated devices — Report
The US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has reportedly ended its investigation of Kraken co-founder Jesse Powell and returned property belonging to him that was seized in a 2023 search of his home.
According to a Tuesday Fortune report, the FBI had returned devices to Powell and ended its probe over allegations he had hacked and cyberstalked the Verge Center for the Arts, a nonprofit he helped found in 2008.
The investigation, reportedly not connected to Powell’s association with Kraken, the cryptocurrency exchange he co-founded, or the crypto industry, resulted in the FBI searching his home and seizing electronic devices that could have contained digital assets.
Reports suggested that Powell had been under investigation by US authorities since 2022. The Kraken co-founder repeatedly denied involvement in the alleged activities and filed a civil suit against members of Verge’s board of directors.
Spot Bitcoin ETFs break 12-day inflow streak amid “profit taking”
Spot Bitcoin ETFs registered a net outflow of $131.35 million on Monday, marking the end of a 12-day streak that attracted $6.6 billion of inflows.
The largest outflow was from ARK Invest’s ARKB, which shed $77.46 million in a single day. Grayscale’s GBTC followed with $36.75 million in outflows, while Fidelity’s FBTC lost $12.75 million, according to data from SoSoValue.
Bitwise’s BITB and VanEck’s HODL also posted moderate outflows of $1.91 million and $2.48 million, respectively. BlackRock’s IBIT, the largest fund by net assets ($86.16 billion), saw no inflows or outflows.
Meanwhile, cumulative net inflows remain robust at $54.62 billion and total net assets across all spot Bitcoin (BTC) ETFs stand at $151.60 billion, accounting for 6.52% of Bitcoin’s total market capitalization.
The $131 million in outflows came as investors and institutions locked in some gains to manage risk, according to Vincent Liu, chief investment officer at Kronos Research.
“The recent ETF outflows reflect profit-taking near the highs and measured institutional rebalancing to lock in gains,” Liu told Cointelegraph.
Roman Storm could ask for mistrial over scam victim’s testimony
Tornado Cash co-founder Roman Storm’s lawyers could be considering a motion for mistrial over a government witness they claim had nothing to do with the crypto mixer.
Storm’s defence floated the idea of a mistrial with Manhattan federal judge Katherine Polk Failla on Monday, questioning the testimony of government witness Hanfeng Lin on Tuesday, Inner City Press reported.
If allowed, a mistrial ruling would see Storm’s trial considered invalid due to a judicial error — which in this case could be evidence that should have been excluded — and it could be dismissed in its entirety or retried with a new judge and jury.
Storm is facing up to 45 years in prison after being charged in 2023 with money laundering conspiracy, conspiracy to violate US sanctions, and conspiring to run an unlicensed money laundering business in connection with Tornado Cash, the crypto mixing service he co-founded.
He was charged alongside fellow co-founder Roman Semenov, who has not appeared in court and is believed to be in his native Russia.