Bitcoin Research — Law, Regulation, Markets & Origins (2026)

A research archive on Bitcoin compiled in October 2026: US federal and state law (FinCEN's virtual-currency record from 1999, the 2020 unhosted-wallet rule and its 2026 withdrawal, notes on all 50 states and DC), KYC/AML for buying and selling, banking, exchanges, wallets, payment processors, hacks and their causes, patents, the 2007–2011 origins, and the evidence on who Satoshi Nakamoto is. Every note dates and cites its claims and labels anything unverified, contested or fringe. Government, court and patent records are kept here in full; other sources are cited with a link to the original. Filter by case to pick a topic, such as fincen, states or notes. Download it all as a dataset. Research, not advice. These notes explain what happened and why; they are not recommendations to buy or sell. Statuses of bills and rules are as checked on the date each note gives.

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1030 documents

SEC v. Coinbase, Inc. and Coinbase Global, Inc., Complaint, No. 1:23-cv-04738 (S.D.N.Y.), Dkt. 1 (Part 2 of 2)

Bitcoin Research — Law, Regulation, Markets & Origins (2026) · Wallets · snapshot 2023-06-06

US Securities and Exchange Commission. 2023-06-06. Full text. Licence: US government or court record / US patent (public domain). Excerpt: staked assets are held as collateral in the protocol to incentivize validators to perform required functions. In addition, certain protocols charge crypto asset validators fees to stake and unstake crypto assets and require an upfront refundable deposit (in addition to the crypto assets staked). A “correction penalty” is deducted, or “slashed,” from the staked crypto assets of validators who underperform. Conversely, validators earn rewards, in the form of additional amounts of the native asset, by timely voting on proposed blocks, proposing new blocks, and participating in other consens…

SEC v. Coinbase, Opinion and Order on motion for judgment on the pleadings, Dkt. 105 (726 F. Supp. 3d 260); Wallet claim dismissed, pp. 78-84

Bitcoin Research — Law, Regulation, Markets & Origins (2026) · Wallets · snapshot 2024-03-27

US District Court S.D.N.Y. (Judge Katherine Polk Failla). 2024-03-27. Full text. Licence: US government or court record / US patent (public domain). Excerpt: Case 1:23-cv-04738-KPF Document 105 Filed 03/27/24 Page 1 of 84 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION, Plaintiff, 23 Civ. 4738 (KPF) -v.- OPINION AND ORDER COINBASE, INC. and COINBASE GLOBAL, INC., Defendants. KATHERINE POLK FAILLA, District Judge: The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC” or the “Commission”) brings this enforcement action against Coinbase, Inc. (“Coinbase”)…

SEC v. Coinbase, Joint Stipulation to Dismiss, and Releases (with prejudice), Dkt. 178

Bitcoin Research — Law, Regulation, Markets & Origins (2026) · Wallets · snapshot 2025-02-28

SEC and Coinbase (court filing). filed 2025-02-28. Full text. Licence: US government or court record / US patent (public domain). Excerpt: Case 1:23-cv-04738-KPF Document 178 Filed 02/28/25 Page 1 of 4 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION, Plaintiff, 23 Civ. 4738 (KPF) V. COINBASE, INC. and COINBASE GLOBAL, INC. Defendants. JOINT STIPULATION TO DISMISS, AND RELEASES Plaintiff Securities and Exchange Commission (the "Commission" or the "SEC") and Defendants Coinbase, Inc. ("Coinbase") and Coinbase Global, Inc.…

SEC v. Payward, Inc. et al. (Kraken), Complaint (unregistered exchange/broker/dealer/clearing agency; commingling allegations ¶¶ 2, 210-221), No. 3:23-cv-06003 (N.D. Cal.), Dkt. 1 (Part 1 of 2)

Bitcoin Research — Law, Regulation, Markets & Origins (2026) · Wallets · snapshot 2023-11-20

US Securities and Exchange Commission. 2023-11-20. Full text. Licence: US government or court record / US patent (public domain). Excerpt: Case 3:23-cv-06003 Document 1 Filed 11/20/23 Page 1 of 90 1 DANIEL BLAU (Cal. Bar No. 305008) Email: [email protected] 2 ALEC JOHNSON (Cal. Bar No. 270960) Email: [email protected] 3 PETER MOORES (Mass. Bar No. 658033) Email: [email protected] 4 ELIZABETH GOODY (N.Y. Bar No. 4687463) Email: [email protected] 5 Attorneys for Plaintiff 6 Securities and Exchange Commission 7 David Hirsch, Chief (Crypto Assets and Cyber Unit) Jorge Tenreiro, Deputy Chief (Crypto Assets and Cyber Unit) 8 100 F Street NE Washington, DC 20549 9 Kathryn E. Zoladz…

SEC v. Payward, Inc. et al. (Kraken), Complaint (unregistered exchange/broker/dealer/clearing agency; commingling allegations ¶¶ 2, 210-221), No. 3:23-cv-06003 (N.D. Cal.), Dkt. 1 (Part 2 of 2)

Bitcoin Research — Law, Regulation, Markets & Origins (2026) · Wallets · snapshot 2023-11-20

US Securities and Exchange Commission. 2023-11-20. Full text. Licence: US government or court record / US patent (public domain). Excerpt: reasonable OMG investors to expect that the 27 demand for OMG would likely increase based on the OMG Network’s efforts to 28 increase demand for its technology, thereby potentially resulting in a price increase COMPLAINT 81 Case 3:23-cv-06003 Document 1 Filed 11/20/23 Page 82 of 90 1 for OMG. 2 423. Public statements made by Kraken about OMG and the OMG Network 3 reinforced investors’ reasonable expectation of profits from an investment in OMG 4 due to the managerial efforts of Omise and the OMG Network team. 5…

SEC v. Payward, Order Denying Motion to Dismiss, Dkt. 90

Bitcoin Research — Law, Regulation, Markets & Origins (2026) · Wallets · snapshot 2024-08-23

US District Court N.D. Cal. (Judge William H. Orrick). 2024-08-23. Full text. Licence: US government or court record / US patent (public domain). Excerpt: Case 3:23-cv-06003-WHO Document 90 Filed 08/23/24 Page 1 of 29 1 2 3 4 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 5 NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 6 7 SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE Case No. 23-cv-06003-WHO…

SEC v. Payward Ventures, Inc. (d/b/a Kraken), Complaint (staking-as-a-service), No. 3:23-cv-00588 (N.D. Cal.), Dkt. 1

Bitcoin Research — Law, Regulation, Markets & Origins (2026) · Wallets · snapshot 2023-02-09

US Securities and Exchange Commission. 2023-02-09. Full text. Licence: US government or court record / US patent (public domain). Excerpt: Case 3:23-cv-00588 Document 1 Filed 02/09/23 Page 1 of 25 1 David Hirsch ([email protected]) 2 Jorge Tenreiro ([email protected]) James Connor ([email protected]) 3 Eugene Hansen (Trial Counsel) (DC Bar No. 483638) ([email protected]) 4 Attorneys for Plaintiff 5 SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION 100 F Street, N.E. 6 Washington, DC 20549-4030 Telephone: (202) 551-6091 (Hansen) 7 Facsimile: (202) 772-9282 (Hansen) 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10…

United States v. Coinbase, Inc., Order re Petition to Enforce IRS Summons (John Doe summons; 14,355 accounts), No. 3:17-cv-01431, Dkt. 78

Bitcoin Research — Law, Regulation, Markets & Origins (2026) · Wallets · snapshot 2017-11-28

US District Court N.D. Cal. (Magistrate Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley). 2017-11-28. Full text. Licence: US government or court record / US patent (public domain). Excerpt: Case 3:17-cv-01431-JSC Document 78 Filed 11/28/17 Page 1 of 14 1 2 3 4 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 5 NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 6 7 UNITED STATES, Case No.17-cv-01431-JSC Petitioner,…

United States v. Payward Ventures, Inc. (Kraken), Order granting in part IRS John Doe summons petition, No. 3:23-mc-80029, Dkt. 34 (Part 1 of 2)

Bitcoin Research — Law, Regulation, Markets & Origins (2026) · Wallets · snapshot 2023-06-30

US District Court N.D. Cal. (Magistrate Judge Joseph C. Spero). 2023-06-30. Full text. Licence: US government or court record / US patent (public domain). Excerpt: Case 3:23-mc-80029-JCS Document 34 Filed 06/30/23 Page 1 of 51 1 2 3 4 5 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 6 NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 7 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, 8…

United States v. Payward Ventures, Inc. (Kraken), Order granting in part IRS John Doe summons petition, No. 3:23-mc-80029, Dkt. 34 (Part 2 of 2)

Bitcoin Research — Law, Regulation, Markets & Origins (2026) · Wallets · snapshot 2023-06-30

US District Court N.D. Cal. (Magistrate Judge Joseph C. Spero). 2023-06-30. Full text. Licence: US government or court record / US patent (public domain). Excerpt: 13 to the account holder. 17 14 The Court therefore finds that the relevant documents in Request Nos. 1-3 are those listed 15 in Request No. 1(a), which must be produced. The items in Request Nos. 1(b)-(d), Request 2 and Northern District of California 16 Request 3 are not relevant at this stage of the Government’s investigation. 17 d. Requests Four and Five (Transactional Information)…