Mubadala, AXA IM Prime Take Stakes in Private Credit Firm Hayfin
The move follows the management buyout of London-based Hayfin earlier this year. Arctos Keystone, an investment manager that helped finance the deal, is distributing some of its stake to Mubadala and AXA IM Prime, a business unit of AXA Investment Management.
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39 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Tornado Cash investor slams prosecutors eyeing ‘unprecedented' new charges
Federal prosecutors could charge executives at crypto venture firm Dragonfly Capital in connection with its 2020 investment in Tornado Cash developer Peppersec Inc, an assistant US attorney reportedly said Friday. That prompted a swift rebuke from one of the firm's managing partners, who said the company stood by its investment and called the prospect 'outrageous.' 'We made this investment because we believe in the importance of open-source privacy-preserving technology,' Managing Partner Haseeb Qureshi said on X on Friday. 'Charging a venture firm for a portfolio company's alleged misconduct would be unprecedented.' Attorneys for Tornado Cash co-founder Roman Storm want to call Dragonfly Managing Partner Tom Schmidt as a witness in Storm's criminal trial, which began last week in New York. But Schmidt, apparently facing the spectre of prosecution, has said he intends to invoke his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination, according to Storm's attorneys. 'Are you looking at possibly prosecuting everyone at Dragonfly?' Judge Katherine Polk Failla asked federal prosecutor Thane Rehn on Friday during a back-and-forth over Schmidt's potential testimony, according to a post from Inner City Press. 'Not everyone,' Rehn reportedly replied. Tornado Cash allows users to cloak the movement of crypto from one wallet to another. Its users include people who want to maintain their privacy on the blockchain, as well as cybercriminals who have used it to launder stolen crypto. Prosecutors have charged Storm with conspiracy to commit money laundering, operate an unlicensed money-transmitting business, and violate US sanctions. He faces more than 40 years in prison. Dragonfly invested $882,000 in Peppersec in August 2020, according to a document unveiled in court on Thursday. Qureshi said Friday that Dragonfly 'obtained an outside legal opinion that confirmed that Tornado Cash as built complied with the law.' Private messages At Storm's trial Thursday, prosecutors shared a series of private messages between the Tornado Cash founders and Dragonfly executives. The executives advised the founders on their business plans, including a proposal to re-create Tornado Cash with anti-money laundering features, the messages show. Two days before investing in Tornado Cash, Qureshi urged Storm to create a three-year vesting schedule for the founders' tokens. 'You don't want to spook the market,' Qureshi said. '2 years is on the small side these days for founder lockups.' In February 2022, Storm asked Schmidt to urge holders of the Tornado Cash token to vote to introduce a 'relay registry' — a protocol feature that was key to some of Storm's alleged crimes, prosecutors say. Later that year, governments began to scrutinise privacy-enhancing crypto protocols such as Tornado Cash, and the founders began to implement changes to limit its use by cybercriminals. In April, the founders changed the Tornado Cash website to block crypto wallets sanctioned by the US. A month later, Storm told Dragonfly executives the Peppersec team was 'brainstorming an idea.' 'Privacy for blockchain with full compliance,' Storm said in a message in a group chat that included Qureshi and Schmidt. 'Has to be under new brand name, basically fork of Tornado Cash but with KYC/AML in it.' Qureshi said he was 'not a fan' of the idea. 'Legally it seems fine, but I just don't know if anyone will actually want this,' he said. 'Market need seems quite thin.' Dragonfly cooperation Tornado Cash was sanctioned by the US Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control that August. (Those sanctions were lifted this year after Ethereum developer Preston Van Loon and other Tornado Cash users successfully sued the Treasury Department.) 'Despite public assurances otherwise, Tornado Cash has repeatedly failed to impose effective controls designed to stop it from laundering funds for malicious cyber actors on a regular basis,' Treasury official Brian Nelson said in a statement. Storm was arrested a year later. Despite living in Washington State, the software engineer is being tried in the Southern District of New York. Prosecutors say that by communicating with Schmidt while the executive was in New York, Storm committed his alleged crimes in the district. 'We always encouraged our portfolio companies to follow the law, and we maintain that Tornado Cash itself has a lawful right to exist—a view reinforced by Van Loon v. Department of the Treasury and OFAC's subsequent rescission of sanctions,' Qureshi said Thursday. Dragonfly received a government subpoena in 2023 and has 'fully cooperated' with the government's investigation of Roman Storm since, according to Qureshi. He added that prosecutors have 'made clear' the venture firm was not a target of their investigation. 'We believe the government's statement in court today was primarily to undermine a defense of Tornado Cash—to make it more difficult for the defense to call Tom to testify on the stand,' Qureshi said. 'After all of this time—years later—bringing charges against Dragonfly would be outrageous, contrary to the facts and the law, and would induce a chilling effect onto all investment into crypto and privacy-preserving technologies in America.' Aleks Gilbert is DL News' New York-based DeFi Correspondent. Reach out to him with tips at aleks@ Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
39 minutes ago
- Yahoo
It's great to be here, I love standing on the soil of Scotland, Trump says
Donald Trump has said he 'loves standing on the soil of Scotland' after landing in the country on Friday evening, according to the Scottish Secretary. Ian Murray told the PA news agency what the US President's first words were after disembarking from Air Force One in Prestwick. The UK Government minister was the first person to greet the president in Scotland as he begins his visit to the country. Speaking after meeting the American leader, Mr Murray told PA: 'The president came off the flight, and I said, 'Mr president, welcome to Scotland – the home country of your dear mother', and he said, 'It's great to be here, I always love standing on the soil of Scotland'. 'I said, 'I hope you're looking forward to a bit of downtime with some golf this weekend', and he said, 'Yes'. And I said, 'Well, we've whipped up a bit of a wind for you to make it a bit more competitive', and he went, 'I'm looking forward to it'.' Mr Murray said Mr Trump was given a warm reception as he got off his presidential plane. Hundreds gathered on the Mound overlooking Prestwick Airport for the president's arrival. A Trump flag was flown while a few spectators wore 'Make America Great Again' hats, although many of those attending were locals and aviation enthusiasts, including some who had travelled from England. Mr Murray said: 'Spotters hills, as it's called, where all the plane spotters come to Prestwick, was absolutely full. 'You could see that from the tarmac and as Air Force One came in, people were snapping away on their photographs. 'To see all that happening is quite a spectacle in itself. 'It's really good to have that kind of focus on Scotland.' Mr Trump will meet Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer during his trip to discuss the UK-US trade deal as Britain hopes to be spared from the president's tariff regime. The Scottish Secretary said: 'Really, the purpose of this weekend, the purpose of greeting the president off the plane, the purpose of the Prime Minister's relationship with the president is to build that close relationship, to make sure that that old alliance is nurtured, and to do that for the benefit of the national interest, which is about jobs and growth here in the UK, and particularly Scotland.' Mr Trump will meet Scottish First Minister John Swinney during his trip as he opens a new golf course in Aberdeenshire. Before flying to Prestwick, Mr Trump said in Washington that he was 'looking forward' to meeting Mr Swinney, describing him as a 'good man' – the same phrase he used for the Prime Minister after landing in Scotland. Asked about the president's relationship with the UK, Mr Murray said: 'The Prime Minister has taken a very pragmatic approach to the relationship with the president of the United States, because it's in our national interest to do so, whether it be on defence, security, trade, cultural, historic ties. 'It's a historic alliance, and that alliance has to be nurtured and continue through to the future, because it's quite clear that our relationship with United States is good for jobs and growth here in Scotland and across the UK. 'The Prime Minister knows that, and knows that working very closely with the US is in our national interest.' Asked about protests, which are expected across the country, Mr Murray said people had a right to demonstrate, adding: 'Freedom of speech, freedom of assembly and freedom to protest is a key cornerstone of both countries, America and the UK, and the right to be able to protest if they so wish to so.'
Yahoo
39 minutes ago
- Yahoo
New Milan offer for Jashari at 35m plus 3m bonus
Fresh details are emerging on the new Milan offer for Ardon Jashari, which will reportedly be worth €35m plus €3m in add-ons to Club Brugge. It remains to be seen if this will be sufficient, but the Rossoneri are increasingly confident that they will get the all clear over the next few days. Milan changing the Jashari offer BRUGES, BELGIUM – FEBRUARY 12: Ardon Jashari #30 of Club Brugge KV looks on following his teams 2-1 victory against Atalanta in the UEFA Champions League 2024/25 League Knockout Play-off first leg match at Jan Breydel Stadium on February 12, 2025 in Bruges, Belgium. (Photo by Alex Bierens) There had already been numerous reports that the format of the proposal would change, if not the total figure of circa €38m. That is now confirmed by Sport Mediaset and who note that Milan informed Jashari's intermediaries that a new formal bid is coming this weekend. It is going to be worth €35m as a fixed fee plus €3m in add-ons, an improvement from the previous rejected bid that had only €32m guaranteed and the other €6m in various bonuses. The add-ons should also be quite easy to activate and therefore be practically a guaranteed figure of €38m.
