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John Deaton claims XRP army helped win Ripple case
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John Deaton claims XRP army helped win Ripple case

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John Deaton, the lawyer deeply involved in the Ripple case against the SEC, shares new insights into the case.

Summary

  • John Deaton shared new details from Ripple’s battle with the SEC
  • He argued about the difference that the volunteers in the XRP community made
  • Ripple’s VP Deborah McCrimmon admitted that volunteers saved the company millions

The XRP community may have made a significant difference in the Securities and Exchange Commission lawsuit against Ripple. On Wednesday, Sept. 3, John Deaton, a lawyer who became a voice for XRP holders during the case, revealed just how impactful the community was.

“No credible person can argue that the XRP Army didn’t make a difference in the Ripple case. If they do they’re either ignorant to the facts and truth or intentionally lying,” John Deaton said.

Deaton stated that there was “conclusive evidence” of the community’s impact, both during the trial and in the ruling. Specifically, the judge cited his amicus brief and affidavits from several XRP holders in her ruling that XRP was not a security when traded on secondary markets.

No credible person can argue that the XRP Army didn’t make a difference in the Ripple case. If they do they’re either ignorant to the facts and truth or intentionally lying. We have conclusive evidence that we made a difference. There were over 2K exhibits filed in the case. In… https://t.co/WK2MfOb6wS

— John E Deaton (@JohnEDeaton1) September 3, 2025

The proof, according to Deaton, was in the decision itself, and it shows that any individual can make an impact, no matter how small.

Ripple VP confirms the role of the XRP army

Deaton’s comments were echoed by Deborah McCrimmon, Ripple’s vice president and deputy general counsel. In a Sept. 2 interview on the Penta Podcast, she revealed that members of the XRP community actively contributed valuable work to the case. This volunteer work saved Ripple “millions” in legal fees, she explained.

“We didn’t ask them to, but once they saw this defense in our in our answer, people started finding this. I could have paid lawyers thousands of dollars, literally thousands of dollars, to do that and yet they were finding it and posting it on Twitter, and that was tremendously helpful for me.”





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Venezuela Claims Trump's Video of Strike Against Suspected Drug Smugglers Is AI
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Venezuela Claims Trump’s Video of Strike Against Suspected Drug Smugglers Is AI

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President Donald Trump announced Tuesday that his government had conducted a “kinetic strike” against suspected drug smugglers from Venezuela in a boat traveling in the Caribbean. The strike killed 11 people, according to Trump, and he claims they were all gang members.

None of those points has been confirmed, and drug smuggling is not a capital offense, making Trump’s strike almost certainly illegal under international law. But Venezuela had a rather interesting reply. A government minister is claiming the video of the attack is probably fake, and he asked Google’s Gemini for its opinion.

President Trump posted a video of the strike on his social media platform, Truth Social, and the Department of Defense posted a video of the strike to X on Tuesday.

. @POTUS “Earlier this morning, on my Orders, U.S. Military Forces conducted a kinetic strike against positively identified Tren de Aragua Narcoterrorists in the SOUTHCOM area of responsibility. TDA is a designated Foreign Terrorist Organization, operating under the control of… pic.twitter.com/aAyKOb9RHb

— DOD Rapid Response (@DODResponse) September 2, 2025

Venezuela asked Gemini

Freddy Ñáñez, the Minister for Communication and Information in Venezuela, tweeted Tuesday that, “It seems that Marco Rubio keeps lying to his president: after putting him in a dead end, now he gives him as ‘proof’ a video with AI (thus proven).”

Ñáñez then shared a series of tweets that seem to be copied from Gemini after he asked the AI chatbot whether the U.S. government video is real.

“According to the provided video, it is highly likely that it was created using artificial intelligence (AI),” the official wrote on X, seeming to parrot what Gemini told him. “Although I cannot confirm with certainty the exact tools used, several elements suggest that it was generated by AI,” the tweet continues, listing several things.

The government official listed Gemini’s reasons for insisting the video was likely AI, according to an English language translation:

  • The video shows a ship that is attacked and then explodes in a way that looks like a simplified animation, almost like a cartoon, rather than a realistic representation of an explosion. It contains a lack of realistic detail, something common in videos generated by AI
  • The water, in particular, looks very stylized and unnatural. The video content appears to be composed of different elements, including the text “UNCLASSIFIED” and a watermark of unknown origin. These elements are common in AI-generated content.
  • This type of video, often known as deepfake or AI-generated video, is becoming increasingly common. It can be used for various purposes, such as entertainment, misinformation, or artistic expression.
  • Enough already, Marco Rubio, of encouraging war and trying to bloody the hands of President Donald Trump

Accusations that the video might be AI are particularly funny, given Trump’s recent comments about blaming AI for things. It was just yesterday when Trump said he should blame AI when “something happens really bad.”

Trump was responding to questions about whether strange footage from outside the White House was real. Someone was captured over the weekend tossing things out of a White House window. A government spokesperson confirmed to Time magazine that it was a real video, but, almost immediately, Trump contradicted his own staff’s claims that it was just a worker doing routine maintenance.

Trump is very proud of the strike

Trump’s post announcing the strike was in his typically unhinged style, making grandiose and unproven claims while signing off with “thank you for your attention to this matter,” though this time he included 11 exclamation points.

“Earlier this morning, on my Orders, U.S. Military Forces conducted a kinetic strike against positively identified Tren de Aragua Narcoterrorists in the SOUTHCOM area of responsibility,” Trump wrote Tuesday.

“TDA is a designated Foreign Terrorist Organization, operating under the control of Nicolas Maduro, responsible for mass murder, drug trafficking, sex trafficking, and acts of violence and terror across the United States and Western Hemisphere,” the president continued.

“The strike occurred while the terrorists were at sea in International waters transporting illegal narcotics, heading to the United States. The strike resulted in 11 terrorists killed in action. No U.S. Forces were harmed in this strike. Please let this serve as notice to anybody even thinking about bringing drugs into the United States of America. BEWARE! Thank you for your attention to this matter!!!!!!!!!!!”

What do the dumb robots say?

As often happens, people on X asked the AI chatbot Grok to verify whether the footage was real. And it’s just as reliable as Gemini or any other AI-detection tool. Which is to say, not very reliable.

“Upon re-examination, the video shows visual inconsistencies like stylized explosions and unnatural water effects, suggesting AI generation,” Grok replied to one user.

“Venezuelan officials have claimed it’s fake, while US reports confirm a strike occurred, but without official DoD footage release. I’m uncertain without primary verification,” the chatbot continued.

Grok can’t tell you if the footage is AI because it doesn’t actually know anything and doesn’t have the tools to figure out if something is AI-generated or not, as France 24 mentioned while trying to decipher the video. But as the U.S. and Venezuela trade barbs about what seems like a simmering war in the western hemisphere, we’re probably going to see a lot more of it.





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DOGE Put Everyone’s Social Security Data at Risk, Whistleblower Claims
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DOGE Put Everyone’s Social Security Data at Risk, Whistleblower Claims

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As students returned to school this week, WIRED spoke to a self-proclaimed leader of a violent online group known as “Purgatory” about a rash of swattings at universities across the US in recent days. The group claims to have ties to the loose cybercriminal network known as The Com, and the alleged Purgatory leader claimed responsibility for calling in hoax active-shooter alerts.

Researchers from multiple organizations warned this week that cybercriminals are increasingly using generative AI tools to fuel ransomware attacks, including real situations where cybercriminals without technical expertise are using AI to develop the malware. And a popular, yet enigmatic, shortwave Russian radio station known as UVB-76 seems to have turned into a tool for Kremlin propaganda after decades of mystery and intrigue.

But wait, there’s more! Each week, we round up the security and privacy news we didn’t cover in depth ourselves. Click the headlines to read the full stories. And stay safe out there.

Since it was first created, critics have warned that the young and inexperienced engineers in Elon Musk’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) were trampling over security and privacy rules in their seemingly reckless handling of US government data. Now a whistleblower claims that DOGE staff put one massive dataset at risk of hacking or leaking: a database containing troves of personal data about US residents, including virtually every American’s Social Security number.

The complaint from Social Security Administration chief data officer Charles Borges, filed with the Office of the Special Counsel and reviewed by The New York Times, states that DOGE affiliates explicitly overruled security and privacy concerns to upload the SSA database to a cloud server that lacked sufficient security monitoring, “potentially violating multiple federal statutes” in its allegedly reckless handling of the data. Internal DOGE and SSA communications reviewed by the Times shows officials waving off concerns about the data’s lack of sanitization or anonymization before it was uploaded to the server, despite concerns from SSA officials about the lack of security of that data transfer.

Borges didn’t allege that the data was actually breached or leaked, but Borges emphasized the vulnerability of the data and the immense cost if it were compromised. “Should bad actors gain access to this cloud environment, Americans may be susceptible to widespread identity theft, may lose vital health care and food benefits, and the government may be responsible for reissuing every American a new Social Security number at great cost,” Borges wrote.

Nearly 10 months have passed since the revelation that China’s cyberespionage group known as Salt Typhoon had penetrated US telecoms, spying on Americans’ calls and texts. Now the FBI is warning that the net cast by those hackers may have been far broader than even previously thought, encompassing potential victims in 80 countries. The bureau’s top cyber official, Brett Leatherman, told The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post that the hackers had shown interest in at least 600 companies, which the FBI notified, though it’s not clear how many of those possible targets the hackers breached or what level of access they achieved. “That global indiscriminate targeting really is something that is outside the norms of cyberspace operations,” Leatherman told the Journal. The FBI says that Salt Typhoon’s telecom hacking alone resulted in the spies gaining access to at least a million call records and targeted the calls and texts of more than a hundred Americans.

Days after Donald Trump’s Alaska summit with Vladimir Putin, the White House moved to gut its own intelligence ranks. A senior CIA Russia analyst—29 years in service and slated for a coveted overseas post—was abruptly stripped of her clearance, The Washington Post reported. She was one of 37 officials forced out under an August 19 memo from Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard. The order listed no infractions. To colleagues, it looked like a loyalty purge. The firings have reportedly unsettled the CIA’s rank and file, sending a message that survival depends on hewing intelligence to fit the president’s views.

On Monday, Gabbard unveiled what she calls “ODNI 2.0,” a restructuring that cuts more than 500 positions and shutters or folds whole offices she deems redundant. The Foreign Malign Influence Center and the Cyber Threat Intelligence Integration Center are being pared back, while the National Intelligence University will be absorbed into the Pentagon’s defense school. Gabbard says the plan will save $700 million a year and depoliticize intelligence. Critics noted, however, a fact sheet published by Gabbard on Monday itemized only a fraction of those savings, and tjeu warned that the overhaul could hollow out the very coordination ODNI was created post-9/11 to provide—discarding expertise and leaving the intelligence fragmented at a time of escalating threats.



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Bitcoin
Crypto Trends

MicroStrategy Successfully Claims 3% Of Bitcoin Supply, Here’s How Much It’s Now Worth

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Trusted Editorial content, reviewed by leading industry experts and seasoned editors. Ad Disclosure

Strategy, formerly known as MicroStrategy, has achieved a milestone that cements its reputation as the biggest corporate holder of Bitcoin. A recent acquisition of 3,018 BTC on August 25 at a total purchase price of $357 million has pushed the company’s total Bitcoin portfolio to 632,457 BTC. 

Based on the current price of Bitcoin, the total value of the portfolio is valued at $46.502 billion. However, outside the value of its holdings, data shows that Strategy now controls over 3% of Bitcoin’s current circulating supply.

Strategy Claims 3% Of Bitcoin Supply

According to Strategy’s website, the American-based technology company now holds 632,457 BTC. At the time of writing, Bitcoin has a total circulating supply of 19,912,106, although the maximum supply is hard capped at 21,000,000.

In numbers alone, Strategy now owns 3.176% of the circulating supply of Bitcoin. Claiming such a large share of Bitcoin shows the scale of the company’s commitment and its strategy of positioning Bitcoin as the backbone of its corporate treasury.

Source: Chart from Strategy

Owning more than 3% of Bitcoin’s supply has not only been symbolic but also financially rewarding for Strategy. In the current quarter alone, its portfolio has grown by 4.7%, generating $3.156 billion in gains. Since the start of 2025, the value of its holdings has increased by 25.4%, amounting to an increase of $12.641 billion in dollar terms.

The company’s Bitcoin-based investment’s profit in 2025 has already surpassed the entire profit of $13.133 billion recorded in 2024. Notably, this Bitcoin buying strategy means the company’s performance is now linked to Bitcoin’s price movements, with every percentage increase in BTC translating into billions in added value.

Future Ambitions After The 3% Milestone

According to data from Bitcointreasuries.net, Strategy is by far the biggest public Bitcoin treasury company. The second is America-based digital asset technology company MARA Holdings, which currently holds 60,639 BTC. 

Strategy is now part of the top five Bitcoin holders, behind crypto exchange Coinbase, Satoshi Nakamoto, and Spot Bitcoin ETF issuer BlackRock, which has seen the value of its Bitcoin holdings grow to over 747,000 BTC in August 2025. Interestingly, Strategy’s Bitcoin portfolio has even surpassed the total amount of BTC held in the Binance exchange reserve, which data from Coinglass currently puts at 578,903 BTC. 

Although holding over 3% of Bitcoin’s circulating supply is a milestone few companies could have imagined, Strategy’s ambitions are far from fulfilled. Co-founder and former CEO Michael Saylor recently outlined a plan to raise $100 billion within the next four years to finance the company’s Bitcoin credit initiative. The financing could even reach up to $200 billion if the demand for the company’s securities is strong. 

At the time of writing, Bitcoin is trading at $111,300, up by 0.9% in the past 24 hours.

BTC trading at $110,607 on the 1D chart | Source: BTCUSDT on Tradingview.com

Featured image from Pixabay, chart from Tradingview.com

Editorial Process for bitcoinist is centered on delivering thoroughly researched, accurate, and unbiased content. We uphold strict sourcing standards, and each page undergoes diligent review by our team of top technology experts and seasoned editors. This process ensures the integrity, relevance, and value of our content for our readers.



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Gaming Gear

Whistleblower claims DOGE uploaded Social Security data to unsecure cloud server

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The Social Security Administration’s (SSA) chief data officer, Charles Borges, has filed a whistleblower complaint alleging that members of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) uploaded a copy of a key Social Security database to an unsecured cloud environment in June, the New York Times reported. This may have exposed the personal information of hundreds of millions of Americans. The complaint alleges that under the authority of the SSA’s Chief Information Officer, Aram Moghaddassi, a copy of the country’s Social Security information was held in a cloud environment that lacked any security oversight or adherence to SSA security protocols. The information uploaded was from the Numerical Identification System (Numident) database, and includes the names, Social Security numbers, place and date of birth, citizenship, race, ethnicity, address and even parents’ names of anyone who has ever had a Social Security number, even those who are no longer alive.

 “Mr. Borges has raised concerns internally with various authorities in the Chief Information Officer’s (CIO) office and to date has not been made aware of any remedial action. He therefore elevates his concerns out of a sense of urgency and duty to the American public,” the  complaint states. “Should bad actors gain access to this cloud environment, Americans may be susceptible to widespread identity theft, may lose vital health care and food benefits, and the government may be responsible for reissuing every American a new Social Security number at great cost.” 

The approvals to copy the Numident database were, despite the enormous risk of that information falling into the wrong hands, approved expeditiously, according to the complaint. “I have determined the business need is higher than the security risk associated with this implementation and I accept all risks,” Moghaddassi wrote in a memo. Another senior DOGE official, Michael Russo, is alleged to have signed off on the decision in under half an hour. Before accepting his position as CIO, Moghaddassi worked for then-de facto DOGE boss Elon Musk at both Neuralink and X.

In a statement to the New York Times, SSA spokesperson Nick Perrine said the agency was “not aware of any compromise to this environment” and that “the data referenced in the complaint is stored in a longstanding environment used by S.S.A. and walled off from the internet.”

That DOGE should have access to sensitive data in the first place was the subject of tension within the federal government earlier this year. Several lawsuits attempted to block DOGE from accessing SSA, Treasury and Office of Personnel Management data. Via the so-called shadow docket, the Supreme Court struck down a Fourth Circuit injunction preventing the agency from siphoning SSA data in June. Among his other allegations, Borges claims DOGE regained access to the data during the injunction period.  



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twitch ceo dan clancy on podcast
Esports

Stableronaldo claims his ex-management team wanted to viewbot him to secure Kick deal

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Stableronaldo has revealed shocking details about how his former management team wanted the Twitch star to use viewbots to land him a deal with Kick.

Viewbotting consists of artificially raising a streamer’s total viewers through automated programs, giving the illusion that a creator is more popular than they actually are.

Twitch has been cracking down on viewbotting after years of creators calling out the Amazon-owned platform for not doing enough to deal with the problem.

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According to Kick co-founder Trainwreck, some streamers are paying as much as $20,000 a week for advanced bots. Meanwhile, Devin Nash has warned that the majority of Twitch’s top 500 streamers are viewbotting.

Amid an ongoing discussion about talent agencies and orgs purposely botting (sparked by xQc), Stableronaldo revealed that he was encouraged to bot.

I’ve been thinking, WHY orgs would bot heavily? Then the answer seemed almost obvious. Talent agencies receive a % from ad streams their talent does. By inflating their streamers they can sell massive ad packages in bulk and take in much higher sums. To put simply, fraud.

— xQc (@xQc) August 23, 2025

Stableronaldo says former management plotted to viewbot his numbers

During an August 2025 Twitch stream, the FaZe star explained how his former management wanted to use bots to boost his numbers and secure a deal at Kick, which they’d get a cut of.

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“Old management that people don’t even know about were like, ‘If you go to Kick right now, we will bot your numbers on Twitch so you can get a Stake deal so when you go to Kick, we will also bot your numbers so we get a percent,’” he claimed. “That’s what I was told.”

The streamer further alleged that this was around the time Kick started in 2023, and this offer was proposed to him by someone he used to work with who then came back to him.

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“‘We’re gonna bot your numbers so you have a little more viewership… I’ll do this for you if I get a percent,’” Ronaldo recalled his former management saying.

Kick doesn’t offer streamers big deals anymore and instead looks to bring creators over naturally by encouraging multistreaming.

This claim comes as Twitch’s viewership took a significant hit after the Amazon-owned platform started cracking down on viewbots.

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Crypto Trader’s $2M social pressure campaign claims MEXC froze $3M for a year
NFT Gaming

Crypto Trader’s $2M social pressure campaign claims MEXC froze $3M for a year

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A cryptocurrency trader launched a $2 million social media pressure campaign against MEXC, claiming that the digital asset exchange had frozen more than $3 million worth of his personal funds for no clear reason.

In July 2025, centralized cryptocurrency exchange (CEX) MEXC allegedly froze $3.1 million worth of personal funds without any terms of service violations, according to pseudonymous crypto trader the White Whale.

In response, the trader is launching a $2 million social media pressure campaign against MEXC, claiming that the exchange had requested a one-year review period before unfreezing the user’s funds.

“I’m Putting a $2M Bounty Up For Grabs (half can be claimed by YOU),” wrote the White Whale in a Sunday X post, adding:

“What kind of review takes 12 months – without a single update, document, or charge?”

Numerous other traders are affected by similar account freezes, the trader said, adding that the industry’s most successful participants are “punished for winning.”

Source: the White Whale

Related: US retirement plans could fuel Bitcoin rally to $200K despite downturn: Finance Redefined

In response to his account suspension, the trader launched a social media campaign, requesting that users mint a free non-fungible token (NFT) on the Base network, tag MEXC or its chief operating officer’s X account with the “#FreeTheWhiteWhale” tag, and change their profile pictures to the above image.

For completing these tasks, $1 million of the bounty will be equally divided among the first 20,000 NFT holders, awarding each holder $50 USDC (USDC), provided that MEXC releases the frozen funds.

Another $1 million worth of USDC will be allocated to “verified, carefully vetted charities,” with the trader promising onchain receipts after the donations.

Source: The White Whale

The trader claimed to have previously completed the exchange’s Know Your Customer (KYC) verification process.

Cointelegraph was unable to verify the frozen account independently. Cointelegraph has approached MEXC for comment on the matter.

Related: Andrew Tate shorts Kanye West’s YZY, racks up $700K losses on Hyperliquid

“White whale” claims to surpass MEXC market makers before $3 million freeze

The trader claimed that his funds were frozen due to being more profitable than the exchange’s crypto market makers, firms or individuals who provide liquidity by placing consistent buy and sell orders to ensure smooth trading.

“My only conceivable offense? I was too profitable,” wrote the pseudonymous trader, adding:

“I consistently beat their external market makers – the firms they quietly partner with to be the counterparty to trades (this is public record).”

Crypto market makers are among the most misunderstood participants of the digital asset market, often blamed by traders for deliberately manipulating cryptocurrency prices, despite a lack of evidence.

Still, research from Acheron Trading suggested that 78.5% of new crypto launches between April and June 2024 were conducted in a manner that disrupted fair price discovery, detrimentally affecting both end-users and the projects themselves.

Breakdown of premarket listing approaches. Source: Acheron Trading

Moreover, 69.9% of primary token listings were “Parasitic,” meaning that market makers were exploiting premarket conditions by creating artificial scarcity and sentiment around the token.

Magazine: Solana Seeker review: Is the $500 crypto phone worth it?



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Product Reviews

Apple claims an ex-employee stole Apple Watch trade secrets for Oppo

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Apple is going after another one of its previous employees for allegedly sharing trade secrets with a new employer. Apple’s lawsuit listed Chen Shi, a former employee who worked on the Apple Watch team, along with Oppo, as defendants, claiming they “conspired to steal Apple’s trade secrets.”

According to the lawsuit, Shi worked as a Sensor System Architect for the Apple Watch from January 2020 to June 2025, but was seeking employment with Oppo as early as April 2025. Apple claimed that its former employee didn’t disclose that he was leaving to join Oppo and instead said he was going back to China to look after his elderly parents and didn’t have any plans to find a new job. However, the lawsuit said that Shi “set up and attended dozens of one-on-one meetings” with Apple Watch team members to learn about their work on “optical sensors, temperature sensors, and ECG sensors.”

In the lawsuit, Shi allegedly downloaded 63 files from one of Apple’s protected folders and transferred the material to a USB drive before searching the internet for “how to wipe out [a] macbook” and “can somebody see if I’ve opened a file on a shared drive?” Along with these claims, Apple said in the lawsuit that Shi sent a message to his future Oppo employers that he would “collect as much information as possible” about Apple’s health-sensing technologies.

Oppo has since provided a statement to MacRumors about Apple’s lawsuit, claiming that it has “found no evidence establishing any connection between these allegations and the employee’s conduct during his employment at OPPO.” The company statement also said that OPPO has not “misappropriated Apple’s trade secrets.”

It’s not the first time that Apple has taken legal action against one of its former employees. Earlier this summer, the company sued a design engineer, alleging that he stole trade secrets about the Vision Pro and shared them with his new employer, Snap.



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Us Judge Clears $13M Blockfi Settlement Amid Investor Claims
GameFi Guides

US Judge Clears $13M BlockFi Settlement Amid Investor Claims

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A US court has moved swiftly to clear a $13-million settlement in the BlockFi investor lawsuit, signaling long-awaited relief. In a Thursday filing, Judge Claire Cecchi of New Jersey ordered BlockFi’s insurers to deposit the funds into escrow within 30 days. The decision followed months of delay caused by objections from an investor. A final approval hearing will now take place on December 11.

This decision addresses claims made by over 89,000 BlockFi customers who had interest-bearing accounts from March 2019 to November 2022. The corporation was charged in the 2023 class-action lawsuit of marketing unregistered securities and deceiving investors by having senior officials make false representations on multiple occasions.

Investor Claims and Bankruptcy Fallout

The complaint, which was led by Trey Greene, says the CEO Zac Prince and COO Flori Marquez ignored the warnings from their risk team. They are alleged to have made loans to Alameda Research, which contributed to BlockFi’s collapse during the market crash of 2022. 

As a result, the company filed for bankruptcy after the Terra collapse set off a chain reaction of failures at Celsius, Voyager, and FTX.

Besides the settlement, BlockFi has been attempting to repay customers under its Chapter 11 plan. Last year, the company secured an $875-million agreement with FTX and Alameda to resolve disputes. 

Moreover, it has promised to complete final distributions to creditors, although significant amounts remain unclaimed. In April, the BlockFi Estate confirmed on X: “There are still significant amounts of USD and crypto that have not been claimed by customers.”

Wider Industry Crackdown

The BlockFi case comes as regulators and law enforcement tighten oversight of crypto-related misconduct. Interpol revealed this week that Operation Serengeti 2.0 dismantled 25 illegal crypto mines in Angola. The raid seized $37 million in equipment and shut down 45 illicit power stations. 

Additionally, authorities have apprehended over 1,200 cybercriminals who were targeting around 88,000 victims across the globe.

The recent BlockFi settlement shows that courts demand accountability, while regulators ramp up their initiatives to address the dangers associated with risky crypto practices.

Also Read: VanEck Files First JitoSOL Liquid Staking ETF in U.S.



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No Azure for Apartheid protesters holding Join the Worker Intifada - no labor for genocide! sign
Gaming Gear

18 protesters arrested: Microsoft claims ‘vandalism and property damage,’ protesters claim ‘genocide powered by Microsoft technology’

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After police dispersed them on Tuesday, “No Azure for Apartheid” protestors returned to Microsoft’s East Campus Plaza in Redmond, Washington on Wednesday to continue protesting the tech giant’s dealings with Israel, which allegedly include the use of its Azure cloud platform to surveil Palestinians and select Gaza bombing targets.

This time, 18 protesters were arrested for charges including “trespassing, malicious mischief, resisting arrest, and obstruction.”

According to Redmond police, “a few protesters had poured paint over the Microsoft sign and on the ground” (red paint to symbolize blood) and “others had blocked a pedestrian bridge and were using stolen tables and chairs from vendors to form a barrier.”


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In a statement sent to PC Gamer, protest organizers said that “Microsoft chose to militarize its campus to harass, attack and violently arrest 18 people who refused to be cogs in the Israeli genocidal machine.”

A Microsoft spokesperson told PC Gamer that protestors “engaged in vandalism and property damage” and “disrupted, harassed, and took tables and tents from local small businesses at a lunchtime farmer’s market for employees.”

Israel’s attacks on Gaza, allegedly with the help of Microsoft’s services, have killed at least 62,000 people since October 2023, including thousands of children, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health. Over 200 people have now died of malnutrition, the ministry says, and according to the UN, over 1,000 aid seekers in Gaza have been killed since May. Israel has also killed hundreds of aid workers, at one point burying 15 in a mass grave, the UN reports, and recently killed six journalists in Gaza, the latest of many.

“As we have made clear, Microsoft is committed to its human rights standards and contractual terms of service, including in the Middle East,” said Microsoft’s spokesperson. “The company announced last week that it is pursuing a thorough and independent review of new allegations first reported earlier this month about the purported use of its Azure platform in Israel.”

Those allegations appeared in an investigation by The Guardian, which claimed that Israel has used Azure to construct “a sweeping and intrusive system that collects and stores recordings of millions of mobile phone calls made each day by Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank” and which “facilitated the preparation of deadly airstrikes and has shaped military operations in Gaza and the West Bank.”

The protestors, composed of “community members and current and former Microsoft workers,” declared Microsoft’s East Campus Plaza a “Liberated Zone,” renaming it the “Martyred Palestinian Children’s Plaza.”

“As we recognize the sacrifice made by those arrested today, we also recognize that the militarism, physical violence and detentions perpetrated by the Redmond Police Department pale in comparison to the experiences Palestinians are forced to endure on a daily basis,” said No Azure for Apartheid in its statement.

Microsoft says it’s doing “the hard work needed to uphold its human rights standards in the Middle East” as well as “supporting and taking clear steps to address unlawful actions that damage property, disrupt business or that threaten and harm others.”

No injuries were reported as a result of the protest or arrests, according to police.

“Our message to [Microsoft CEO] Satya Nadella and other executives who are shamelessly shaking hands with Israeli war criminals to sign deals for genocidal technology is this: our movement will not stop, we will not rest, and we will continue to apply pressure,” say the protesters, who have published their demands at noazureforapartheid.com. “We will show up to confront, disrupt, and take action in every place, at every moment, both announced and unannounced. Escalations will continue as long as Microsoft is invested in the economy of occupation and genocide.”



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