Prix de AssangeDAOJUSTICE

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs responded to the high-level economic and trade talks between China and the United States: This meeting was held at the request of the US side The Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that Vice Premier He Lifeng will visit Switzerland from May 9 to 12, during which he will hold talks with the US. Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian said that the US has repeatedly expressed its hope to negotiate with China in recent days. This meeting was held at the request of the US, and China's position of firmly opposing the US's abuse of tariffs has not changed. At the same time, we have said many times that China is open to dialogue, but any dialogue must be based on equality, respect and mutual benefit. Any form of pressure and coercion will not work for China. China will firmly safeguard its legitimate interests and uphold international fairness and justice. (CCTV News)

China agrees to engage with the US on tariffs, Vice Premier He Lifeng to visit Switzerland for talks According to the Ministry of Commerce, in response to the US's recent frequent signals on tariff adjustments and its active pursuit of contact with China, China has decided to agree to the contact and will lead a delegation led by Vice Premier He Lifeng to Switzerland from May 9 to 12 to hold economic and trade talks with US Treasury Secretary Benson. China emphasizes that negotiations must be conducted on the basis of mutual respect, equality and mutual benefit, and will never accept coercive actions under the guise of talks. China's position is firm, and it will not only fight to the end, but also keep its door open to safeguard international fairness and justice and the multilateral trade order.

Celsius founder Mashinsky slams 20-year prison sentence proposal Celsius founder Alex Mashinsky expressed strong dissatisfaction with the 20-year prison sentence proposed by the U.S. Department of Justice. Previously, Mashinsky pleaded guilty to commodity fraud and manipulation of CEL token prices in December 2024, and made a profit of $48 million by selling tokens before Celsius collapsed. His legal team submitted a reply memorandum to the New York District Court on May 5, requesting that the sentence be reduced to less than 366 days on the grounds that Mashinsky was a first-time non-violent offender with a 30-year unblemished business record. Celsius filed for bankruptcy protection in July 2022, with debts of $4.7 billion at the time, and the case affected the assets of hundreds of thousands of users. (Cointelegraph)

Samourai Wallet accuses US prosecutors of concealing key evidence: FinCEN once determined that it did not need a license Lawyers for the founding team of Samourai Wallet, a cryptocurrency mixer, filed documents in the Manhattan federal court, accusing prosecutors of concealing key regulatory opinions for 18 months. The documents show that the U.S. Treasury Department's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) informed prosecutors as early as November 2023 that Samourai's services "did not meet the requirements for money service business (MSB) licensing" because it did not host user private keys. However, prosecutors still charged the two founders with unlicensed operations and money laundering in April 2024, involving $2 billion in illegal transactions. The lawyer pointed out that the prosecutors should have disclosed the information by May 8, 2023, but it was not made public until April 1, 2025. FinCEN officials admitted in internal communications that the existing regulatory guidelines did not clarify the criteria for identifying "functionally controlled" cryptocurrencies, and the prosecutors' arguments posed legal risks. The Samourai team intends to apply for the dismissal of the charges again based on this, and questioned the Department of Justice's violation of its policy orientation of "not pursuing unintentional violations of mixers" issued in April. This case may become an important precedent for transparency in cryptocurrency regulatory enforcement. (Cointelegraph)

The White House has completed a fresh batch of sanctions against Russia, aimed at hitting banks and energy companies, in a move to force President Vladimir Putin to support President Donald Trump’s demand for a ceasefire in Ukraine, according to Reuters. The targets include Gazprom, the massive state-owned energy company, and several other major organizations tied to natural resources and finance. Officials involved in the matter did not disclose any more names. Trump hasn’t signed the sanctions yet, but every piece is ready and waiting. One US official said plainly, “It’s totally his call.” Another added that the National Security Council is coordinating the rollout of “more punitive actions.” Trump has been growing frustrated with Putin after repeated attempts to get him to the table have failed. At first, Trump echoed Moscow’s points during the early stages of his private phone calls with Putin. Now he’s running out of patience. James Hewitt, spokesperson for the National Security Council, said Trump is still focused on a full and comprehensive ceasefire. Hewitt refused to say anything about current discussions behind closed doors. If Trump does approve this new sanctions package, it’ll follow the US-Ukraine minerals deal he signed on Wednesday, which was meant to be part of the peace framework. That agreement was pushed hard by Trump to show he’s taking a strong line, even as Putin ignores calls for negotiation. Since the 2022 invasion, the US and its allies have added sanctions over and over. But the Kremlin always finds ways around them. Moscow keeps making money, keeps buying weapons, and the war drags on. That’s why this new set of penalties targets Russia’s lifelines directly. Kurt Volker, who once served as Trump’s envoy to NATO and also handled Ukraine negotiations during his first term, said, “Trump has been bending over backwards to give Putin every opportunity to say, ‘Okay, we’re going to have a ceasefire and an end to the war,’ and Putin keeps rejecting him.” Volker added, “This is the next phase of putting some pressure on Russia. Putin has been escalating.” Trump, meanwhile, “has got the US and Ukraine now in alignment calling for an immediate and full ceasefire, and Putin is now the outlier.” Since returning to the Oval Office in January, Trump has been moving pieces around to try to make the Kremlin play ball. One of the biggest moves was shutting down the Justice Department task force that used to chase down sanctions violators and Russian oligarchs. He’s also made some public comments that support Russia, blaming Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy for the war and calling him a “dictator.” None of those gestures worked. Steve Witkoff, Trump’s special peace envoy, has taken it further. He’s been promoting a peace deal that would give four Ukrainian regions to Moscow. He’s now met Putin four times, including a visit just last week. But three days after that, Sergei Lavrov, Russia’s foreign minister, repeated Putin’s maximum demands, and more attacks followed. Missile and drone strikes slammed into Ukrainian cities again, killing more civilians. Back in March, Reuters reported that US officials had a sanctions relief plan on the table—ready to give Russia a break if it came to the negotiating table. But that plan is dead for now. Trump’s mood has changed. Last Saturday, he met Zelenskiy in Vatican City for what both sides called a “very productive” meeting. One day later, Trump posted on Truth Social that he was “strongly considering large scale Banking Sanctions, Sanctions and Tariffs on Russia” and said they’d stay in place until there’s a full ceasefire and a final deal. Volker also pointed out that Russia is still making serious money off oil and gas sales to India and China. He said the US could go further by using secondary sanctions, a tactic where a country punishes another country for doing business with a third one. In this case, that would mean punishing countries that keep buying from Russia. Volker said it would be “very significant” if Trump pulled that trigger. Cryptopolitan Academy: Coming Soon - A New Way to Earn Passive Income with DeFi in 2025. Learn More