The Government Accountability Office (GAO) concluded in a report that the SEC’s Staff Accounting Bulletin 121, which directed firms safeguarding consumer crypto to track the funds as liabilities on their balance sheets, meets the definition of a rule and therefore should have been submitted to Congress as part of the rulemaking process. House Financial Services Committee Chair Patrick McHenry (R-NC) and Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) released a statement calling on Congress to block the rule. The GAO's determination is not binding on the SEC, but the agency may risk a lawsuit if it does not take steps to withdraw the guidance or formalize it as rulemaking.

Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) tweeted about the Wall Street Journal's inaccurate report on Hamas' use of crypto. She highlighted that the WSJ claimed Hamas raised nearly $100 million via crypto assets, when the real number is around $500,000. Lummis also spoke with Coinbase about how crypto can help law enforcement fight illicit finance.

Rep. Sean Casten (D-IL) wrote an op-ed in The Hill on how Congress can work to prevent future crypto-financed terrorism and other illicit activities. Casten referenced Sen. Elizabeth Warren's (D-MA) bipartisan Digital Asset Anti-Money Laundering Act, and stated that he plans to introduce companion legislation in the House in the coming weeks. He also noted the importance of bipartisanship and putting safety first.

Valkyrie filed an amended spot BTC ETF application with the SEC. Valkyrie is the latest in a series of amended applications, including from Bitwise, BlackRock, Fidelity, Grayscale, VanEck, and ARK Invest.

US Bankruptcy Judge Brendan L. Shannon approved the Chapter 11 restructuring plan for Bittrex, which expects to have enough money in its estate to pay unsecured creditors in full. Bittrex will now be able to shut down its US operations after a months-long effort to return crypto deposits to customers.

US Bankruptcy Judge Martin Glenn heard final arguments from Celsius Network on its Chapter 11 reorganization plan, and urged the SEC to move quickly in deciding if it will authorize Celsius’ plan. Celsius asserted in its closing arguments that the plan has the support of nearly all its customers.

US District Judge T. Kent Wetherell II upheld the Treasury Department’s decision to sanction crypto mixer Tornado Cash, striking down a challenge from crypto advocacy group Coin Center. Judge Wetherell found that the Treasury Department had not exceeded its authority when issuing the sanctions. The Treasury Department sanctioned Tornado Cash in August 2022, after finding that the crypto mixer had laundered more than $7 billion worth of virtual currency since its creation in 2019.

Gemini Trust Co. is suing Genesis Global Holdco, claiming that Genesis is blocking Gemini from distributing $1.6 billion in collateral to Gemini customers.

VanEck filed an amended spot BTC exchange-traded fund (ETF) application with the SEC. The amended filing notes that an unnamed seed capital investor acquired Seed Creation Baskets for the VanEck BTC Trust in October.