Damian Williams, who has served as US Attorney for the Southern District of New York since 2021 and led efforts to prosecute Sam Bankman-Fried and others in the crypto industry, has privately told people that he will step down before President-elect Trump is inaugurated in January. Trump announced last week that he would tap former SEC Chair Jay Clayton to succeed Williams. The preemptive move will see Williams depart the office on his own terms while Deputy US Attorney Ed Kim temporarily steps into the role.

US District Judge Alvin Hellerstein issued an opinion and order finding that Gemini made alleged misrepresentations to the CFTC about its plan to offer BTC futures contracts, but noted that a jury will have to decide if the statements were materially false or misleading. The finding came in an opinion denying the CFTC's motion for partial summary judgment, "except as to the issue of whether Gemini was the maker of the alleged misrepresentations." However, Judge Hellerstein stated that a jury should decide which statements were materially false or misleading and which were not.

US District Judge Vince Chhabria held that decentralized autonomous organizations and their governing members can be sued, refusing to throw out a California crypto investor’s suit against Lido DAO that Judge Chhabria said presents “several new and important questions” about liability in the crypto space. Judge Chhabria denied several motions to dismiss from large institutional investors in Lido DAO, which he ruled is not immune from investor Andrew Samuel's proposed class action claiming the entity violated securities laws by failing to register its tokens as securities.

President-elect Trump tapped Cantor Fitzgerald CEO Howard Lutnick to be his Commerce secretary. Lutnick is a vocal proponent of the crypto industry, with a particular focus on Tether. Lutnick’s Commerce nomination casts additional uncertainty over the Treasury Secretary position, as he was thought to be in the running for that role. Trump’s team is continuing to vet Treasury candidates and has yet to make a decision.  

Gemini has launched its platform in France nearly a year after receiving a digital asset service provider (DASP) registration from the French markets regulator, Autorite des Marches Financiers (AMF). French users can now access Gemini's platform to deposit, trade, and store over 70 digital assets through both web and mobile applications. Payment options include local methods like EUR and GBP, with support for debit cards, bank transfers, and Apple Pay.

US District Judge William Orrick refused to let Kraken make an immediate appeal of his order denying Kraken’s motion to dismiss a suit brought by the SEC, saying it would only delay resolution of the case. Judge Orrick argued that Kraken has not cited sufficient evidence to support its definition of an investment contract, and he will not certify an interlocutory appeal for his August order refusing to end the case. Several courts have disagreed with the position that Kraken has raised, according to Orrick.

US District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly sentenced Heather Morgan, the wife of the hacker who stole billions of dollars’ worth of BTC from Bitfinex, to 18 months in prison for her role in helping to launder the stolen funds. Morgan pleaded guilty last year to money laundering conspiracy and conspiracy to defraud the government alongside her husband, Ilya Lichtenstein, who was handed a five-year prison sentence last week with credit for the time he had already spent in jail following his February 2022 arrest. Although Morgan was "initially unaware of the specific origin of Lichtenstein's proceeds," prosecutors said in a memo that Morgan did know the funds she helped move stemmed from illicit activity.

SEC and DOJ announced charges against crypto mining company BIT Mining. The SEC announced that BIT Mining agreed to pay a $4 million civil penalty to resolve charges related to a widespread bribery scheme to influence numerous foreign officials. DOJ stated that the company will pay a total criminal penalty of $10 million. According to the unsealed indictment, the former CEO of BIT Mining tried to bribe Japanese government officials to be able to open a resort in the country. Zhengming Pan is charged with violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act for his alleged role in the yearslong scheme.

Scott Hartman, co-chief of the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York’s securities and commodities task force, said at a conference that the Southern District of New York will devote fewer resources to policing crypto crimes after securing several major convictions, including that of Sam Bankman-Fried. Hartman gave his assessment one day after President-elect Trump said he would nominate former SEC Chair Jay Clayton to become the new US attorney in Manhattan.