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Crypto Twitter often delivers a heavy helping of the law, but the past seven days brought a double dose.
On Monday, unredacted portions of a lawsuit filed by Ethereum software company Consensys against the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) revealed that the regulator has secretly considered ETH to be a security for over a year.
The bombshell news quickly sparked anger and indignation, given the fact that SEC Chair Gary Gensler has repeatedly refused to comment publicly on his agency’s view of ETH in the intervening period.
If Gensler decided over a year ago that Eth is a security he should have said so.
There’s no need to keep secrets like this from the people you claim you’re protecting and who pay your salary.
Absurd.
— Palley (@stephendpalley) April 29, 2024
Even prominent American lawmakers waded into the debate. Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-NC), chair of the House Financial Services Committee, posted a stern statement on Twitter on Tuesday, accusing Gensler of having lied when he testified before Congress about ETH’s regulatory status without revealing the SEC’s internal, pre-existing determination on the subject.
Shifting from the U.S. House to a federal courthouse, Binance founder Changpeng “CZ” Zhao was sentenced to four months in U.S. federal prison that same day. Zhao pleaded guilty to money laundering violations last year. While it was certainly significant to see yet another founder of a major crypto exchange sent behind bars, the punishment was far less harsh than the three years prosecutors were hoping for.
Indeed, the prevailing sentiment on Twitter following the sentencing hearing was fairly lighthearted, with many joking that Zhao had predicted his own sentencing given his famed use of the number “4” as a signal to dismiss cynical deployments of “fear, uncertainty, and doubt,” or FUD.
Binance gets a $4 billion fine
CZ gets 4 months in prison
We live in a simulation
— Will (@WClementeIII) April 30, 2024
Zhao himself took to Twitter shortly after the sentencing hearing to share his plans for life after prison and assert that he accepted the outcome of the trial, writing, “I will do my time.”
I would like to thank everyone for your care and support, be it writing letters, showing support on X, or in any other form. They all mean a lot to me and keep me strong. I will do my time, conclude this phase and focus on the next chapter of my life (education).
I will remain a…
— CZ 🔶 BNB (@cz_binance) May 1, 2024
If that wasn’t enough criminal crypto news for one day, only hours later the U.S. Department of Justice announced that it charged Roger Ver, an early Bitcoin investor known in some circles as “Bitcoin Jesus,” with evading nearly $50 million worth of taxes. Ver was arrested by authorities in Spain on Tuesday.
Many on Twitter decried the arrest as an unjust anti-crypto provocation, given the fact that Ver renounced his U.S. citizenship in 2014.
My friend, Roger Ver, one of the most principled voluntaryists alive, has been arrested for not paying taxes to the US govt – despite not being a citizen of the United States.
The government’s war on crypto continues…
— Sal the Agorist (@SallyMayweather) April 30, 2024
Others signaled their indifference to Ver’s plight, validating his status as a controversial personality in the crypto ecosystem.
I’ve been here long enough to remember every shady, unethical and outright illegal thing Roger Ver has done (at least since 2014) so if you are a Roger Ver did nothing wrong crusader I highly suggest you re-evaluate every terrible life choice you have made that led you to this.
— Socal Crypto, Secessio plebis (@Socal_crypto) April 6, 2024
Some people found a way to reconcile both perspectives.
Roger Ver is an ass.
Taxation used as an ulterior form of wealth redistribution is theft.
“Exit-Taxing” a non-resident is repulsive.
Free Roger Ver.
Nothing else to say on the matter.
— StopAndDecrypt 🖕 (@StopAndDecrypt) April 30, 2024
Edited by Ryan Ozawa.
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Source: https://decrypt.co/229391/this-week-on-crypto-twitter-ethereum-cz-roger-ver-government-wrath
