It’s been a slightly quieter year on the legal front this year, but there have nevertheless been some big moves in the legal arena as far as the digital asset market is concerned.
But what is the FullyCrypto Top Three of 2024?
Let’s find out.
3. FTX Execs Sentenced
2023 may have been the year when former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried grabbed the headlines having been found guilty of destroying the exchange and its customers holdings, but 2024 was when he and his cohorts received their sentence. The frizzy-haired fraudster got a 25-year sentence in March, with co-CEO Ryan Salame getting 7.5 years a few weeks later.
In September, former Alameda Research boss Caroline Ellison was imprisoned for just 24 months, with the judge praising her ‘significant’ cooperation with prosecutors, while former engineering chief Nishad Singh was sentenced to time served. A month later, co-founder Gary Wang was sentenced to…
The sentences, and the liquidation of FTX in February, drew a line under the episode that led to the crypto winter of 2022 (which, in hindsight, represented the ultimate ‘buy the dip’ opportunity.
2. Tigran Gambaryan’s Nigerian Nightmare
When Binance’s compliance chief, Tigran Gambaryan, and the company’s Africa manager, Nadeem Anjarwalla, were detained in Nigeria during a company trip in February, nobody could have foreseen how things were going to play out. The pair were charged with laundering over $35 million and manipulating the local naira currency, held responsible for Binance’s perceived shortcomings, allegations that both he and Binance denied.
Anjarwalla managed to slip his guards and flee the country, leaving Gambaryan much more heavily monitored as a result. Gambaryan was moved to Kuje prison in Abuja where his health deteriorated significantly, suffering from conditions such as a herniated disc, malaria, and chest infections. Despite his declining health, the Federal High Court in Abuja denied bail requests, citing the prison’s capacity to manage his medical needs.
Gambaryan’s wife petitioned repeatedly for his release, leading to a collection of Senators demanding the government step in, but it wasn’t until October 23, with Gambaryan’s health worsening, that the charges against him were finally dropped, citing health and diplomatic considerations. Gambaryan was freed and returned to the United States for medical care and to be reunited with his family, bringing to an end one of the most dramatic legal episodes of 2024.
While the charges against Gambaryan were dropped, the Nigerian government’s case against Binance continues, focusing on allegations of tax evasion and operating without the required license.
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COPA v Wright
There can’t have been many people who enjoyed 2024 less than Tigran Gambaryan, but Craig Wright was probably one of them. The Australian Satoshi wannabe began the year riding high on a promise that he would crush the Cryptocurrency Open Patent Alliance (COPA) and their attempt to disprove his Satoshi Nakamoto claim once and for all, but he signs off in utter disgrace.
Hotly anticipated since it was filed in 2021, COPA and Wright finally came head to head in February, months after Wright’s bundles of new evidence had already been found to have been nothing more than a crock of forgeries. Wright forged evidence on the eve of the trial and even during the trial itself to try and get himself out of trouble, but all he did was make things worse: following the month-long trial, Justice Mellor ruled from the bench that Wright was not Satoshi Nakamoto, bringing an en end to his ten-year campaign against Bitcoin developers and exchanges.
As well as losing the case, Wright (and a witness, Stefan Matthews) were referred to the Crown Prosecution Service for possible perjury charges, while Wright filed a ludicrous trillion-dollar passing-off case against a fictional group of 122 individuals and entities he argued were pushing down BSV through manipulation. In doing so, he breached the injunction won by COPA and, having failed to turn up at the resulting trial, was sentenced in absentia to a year in prison, suspended for two years, meaning that any transgression (such as another filing) will result in him being officially a convict on the run.
With the threat of perjury charges still hanging over him, we wouldn’t bet against Wright featuring in next year’s Crypto and The Law review, so stay tuned!
