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) 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, 2024Even 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, #ICYMI: New court filings indicate that @SECGov Chair Gary Gensler knowingly misled Congress when pressed on the classification of #ETH at a @FinancialCmte hearing to conduct oversight of his agency. Read my full statement pic.twitter.com/8osMpbY6Iu— Patrick McHenry (@PatrickMcHenry) April 30, 2024Shifting from the U.S. House to a federal courthouse, Binance founder Changpeng “CZ” Zhao was 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 BREAKING CZ #Binance is sentenced to 4 months in prison.Seems like he knew it pic.twitter.com/ykoovo4QkA— EvanLuthra.eth (@EvanLuthra) May 1, 2024Binance gets a $4 billion fineCZ gets 4 months in prisonWe live in a simulation— Will (@WClementeIII) April 30, 2024Zhao 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 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, 2024If that wasn’t enough criminal crypto news for one day, only hours later the U.S. Department of Justice announced that it 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, 2024Others signaled their indifference to Ver’s plight, validating his status as a 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, 2024Some 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, 2024Edited by Ryan Ozawa.
