Latest news with #HaseebQureshi
Yahoo
25-07-2025
- Business
- 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
11-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
US 'way behind' on crypto regulation: Dragonfly partner
Dragonfly Capital Partners, Haseeb Qureshi joins Bloomberg "The Close" to share his view on the unraveling spaghetti that is the traditional financial system. 登入存取你的投資組合
Bloomberg
09-07-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
US 'way behind' on crypto regulation: Dragonfly partner
Bloomberg Markets: The Close Dragonfly Capital Partners, Haseeb Qureshi joins Bloomberg "The Close" to share his view on the unraveling spaghetti that is the traditional financial system. (Source: Bloomberg)
Yahoo
03-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
VC Says 'This May Be The Beginning Of The ETH Revival' As The Ethereum Foundation Formalizes Structural Changes, Outlines Vision
Benzinga and Yahoo Finance LLC may earn commission or revenue on some items through the links below. Dragonfly Managing Partner Haseeb Qureshi has suggested that ETH may be on the verge of mounting a resurgence. The Ethereum Foundation has undergone a structural change and outlined specific goals for the next 12 months. Ethereum has posted modest gains as sentiment appears to be improving. Over the past few years, the vibes in the Ethereum community have been in the dumps. Amid an uncharacteristic underperformance of fellow market leaders Bitcoin and Solana, ETH holders have called into question the asset's investment thesis and pointed fingers at the Ethereum Foundation, the non-profit that plays the role of the network's primary developer, for lacking transparency and failing to do enough to stay ahead of the competition. Don't Miss: — no wallets, just price speculation and free paper trading to practice different strategies. Grow your IRA or 401(k) with Crypto – . But things may now be looking up for the leading Layer 1 blockchain. At least, this is the growing consensus following a recent shakeup at the Ethereum Foundation, which has seen it establish a separation of powers between a management team and a board of directors, appoint new directors, and outline specific goals for the next 12 months. 'This may be the beginning of the ETH revival,' Dragonfly Managing Partner Haseeb Qureshi said on Tuesday. Qureshi's statement came in response to the goals outlined by the Ethereum Foundation's new co-executive directors, Hsiao-Wei Wang and Tomasz Stańczak. These goals include scaling the Layer 1 chain to handle more volume, improving data availability for Layer 2 chains to minimize chances of fee spikes, and improving overall user experience. The outlined goals have sparked excitement as they appear to signal a shift from the rollup-centric roadmap, which has drawn fire for favoring Layer 2 improvements over Layer 1, driving volume to the former at a cost to ETH's price and the mainnet experience while still leading to liquidity fragmentation. Trending: New to crypto? on Coinbase. Stańczak could not emphasize the shift enough. 'We will be focused on the success of the Ethereum mainnet protocol. Ethereum mainnet will remain a global, neutral network, a protocol trusted to be trustless. We will focus on the success of Ethereum mainnet and the entire ecosystem – L2s that bring mass adoption and numerous benefits to the users, mainnet that stands as both a solid rock and a nimble network behind all the transactions and coordination mechanisms,' he said in a Monday note. 'Ahead of us is a focus on making the entire ecosystem of chains feel like one by delivering the best UX, design, and interoperability, while achieving scaling through engineering excellence and cutting-edge research," he said. Unsurprisingly, Qureshi is not the only prominent market observer optimistic about the Ethereum Foundation's renewed vision. 'Exactly the kind of focus we needed to make ETH great again. I've held through it all, and know many top builders, funds, and holders who haven't sold and won't. Now, finally, the EF is setting clear objectives the whole community can rally behind,' DKODA Labs CEO Eren Derman said on Tuesday. Amid the strengthening community sentiment, Ethereum is trading just above $1,800 at the time of writing, up 1% over the past 24 hours. The modest gains come as the market idles ahead of key economic releases this week. Read Next: A must-have for all crypto enthusiasts: . Maximize saving for your retirement and cut down taxes: . Image: Shutterstock Send To MSN: 0 This article VC Says 'This May Be The Beginning Of The ETH Revival' As The Ethereum Foundation Formalizes Structural Changes, Outlines Vision originally appeared on Sign in to access your portfolio
