US Bankruptcy Judge Michael B. Kaplan stated he will likely block the federal government’s attempts to seize money that alleged scammers deposited with BlockFi because the seizure unfairly puts the criminals’ victims ahead of other BlockFi investors.

The Second Circuit ruled that Sam Bankman-Fried will not be released from pretrial detention after leaking a key witness’ diary to the press. Relatedly, US District Judge Lewis A. Kaplan rejected all expert witnesses proposed by Bankman-Fried.

The SEC settled with James Michael Wines, after the agency alleged that he was a partner in an offering that raised $1.5 million in digital assets as a purported “pre-sale” for other digital assets that were never ultimately produced.

CFTC Commissioner Kristin Johnson spoke at the World Federation of Exchanges Annual Meeting on creating rules for decentralized markets. Johnson discussed the risks posed by distributed digital ledger technology and digital assets.

The House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Innovation, Data, and Commerce held a hearing on supply chains and economic competitiveness. Blockchain was one of many topics discussed, with bipartisan interest in exploring blockchain’s potential to improve supply chains and bolster competitiveness.

The House Financial Services Committee voted this week to advance the CBDC Anti-Surveillance Act (H.R. 5403) along party lines. The bill would prohibit the Federal Reserve from issuing a CBDC directly or indirectly to individuals. The bills is not expected to advance any further at this stage.

US Bankruptcy Judge J. Kate Stickles told Prime Core Technologies it can redact the names of its customers from its Chapter 11 filings and serve them with notices by email.

At a conference held by the website Securities Docket, the SEC’s top crypto enforcement attorneys stated that they are looking beyond what a crypto project calls itself and into whether its profit motives and marketing strategies veer into territory governed by securities law. The statement comes as the SEC has brought its first actions against NFT projects in recent weeks. In a separate discussion at the conference, David Hirsch, head of the SEC’s Crypto Assets and Cyber Unit, stated that it is “likely a matter of time” before the SEC lodges a case against a DeFi entity.

The House Financial Services Committee is scheduled to consider today on legislation that would prohibit the Federal Reserve from issuing a CBDC without congressional approval. Bills up for consideration include the CBDC Anti-Surveillance Act (H.R. 5403) and the Digital Dollar Pilot Prevention Act (H.R. 3712).