Two men suspected in the kidnapping and torture of a 28-year-old Italian cryptocurrency investor have pleaded not guilty, while the investigation into their case appears to have expanded to the New York Police Department itself.

New York police had previously arrested William Duplessie, 33, and John Woeltz, 37, on the charges, as well as a third individual, Beatrice Folchi, 24, though her prosecution is being deferred. The victim has not been publicly named.

The men are accused of kidnapping the victim and holding him hostage in a luxury townhouse in Manhattan’s ritzy SoHo neighborhood for more than two weeks. During that time, New York City police say the trio tortured the man, forcing him to take drugs, dangling him from a ledge, urinating on him and electrocuting him in an effort to force him to hand over the private keys to his bitcoin. The alleged perpetrators are accused of making t-shirts of the victim with a crack pipe in his mouth and taking Polaroids of the victim with a gun to his head.

The victim escaped last Friday, grabbing his laptop and getting out of the townhouse and then seeking help from a traffic officer.

Duplessie entered a not-guilty plea to five different charges, including kidnapping with an intent to collect a ransom, kidnapping and causing a physical injury, criminal possession of a loaded firearm, assault with an intent to cause a physical injury with a weapon and unlawful imprisonment, according to the court docket.

Woeltz was charged with kidnapping, assault, unlawful imprisonment and criminal possession of a firearm, and he also pleaded not guilty, according to his court docket.

Two NYPD officers, including a detective assigned to Mayor Eric Adams’ protection detail, worked for both Duplessie and Woeltz in their off-duty hours and have now been placed on modified duty, Bloomberg reported Thursday. A source familiar told CoinDesk that the two officers are not believed to be part of the kidnapping, but rather did security work for the defendants. They may have driven the victim from an airport to the townhouse, but have not been tied to his torture, the source said.

A spokesperson for the NYPD said the matter was «under internal review.»

A spokesperson for the mayor’s office said in a statement that, «Every city employee is expected to follow the law, including our officers, both on and off duty. We are disturbed by these allegations, and as soon as it came to our attention, the officers were placed on modified duty. The investigation is ongoing.»

UPDATE (May 29, 2025, 22:27 UTC): Adds additional detail.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission moved to drop its long-running lawsuit against crypto exchange Binance on Thursday, without providing an explanation in a court filing.

The SEC and Binance filed a joint motion, noting that the case had already been paused while the SEC’s new crypto task force worked to «develop a regulatory framework for crypto assets.»

«In the exercise of its discretion and as a policy matter, the Commission believes the dismissal of this Litigation is appropriate,» the joint filing said. «… the Commission’s decision to seek dismissal of this Litigation does not necessarily reflect the Commission’s position in any other litigation or proceeding.»

The SEC has not published a framework yet, though lawmakers in the U.S. House of Representatives introduced their formal bill to define how the SEC and its sister agency, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, would each oversee digital assets earlier on Thursday.

The parties want the case dismissed with prejudice, meaning the SEC would not be able to bring this lawsuit against Binance again in the future. The filing also includes provisions to block Binance or its affiliated entities and executives from filing a suit or complaint against the SEC tied to the lawsuit, which was brought in June 2023 against Binance, Binance.US and Binance founder Changpeng CZ Zhao.

Judge Amy Berman Jackson, who’s overseeing the case, previously ruled that the SEC had brought plausible charges against the exchange and allowed most the lawsuit to proceed last year.

In a statement, an external spokesperson for Binance.US said they were «pleased that the SEC fully dismissed its charges against Binance.US, confirming what we have always known — that the company did not violate U.S. securities laws.»

«Today’s news is a major milestone for our company, as putting this matter to rest allows us to focus entirely on growing our business and work on restoring our relationships that were impacted by the SEC,» the statement said. «We are excited about the future of Binance.US and crypto in the U.S. and look forward to continuing to offer access to crypto in the U.S., while maintaining our commitment to compliance and our customers.»

Thursday’s filing just marks the latest withdrawal for the SEC, which already moved to drop over a dozen other investigations and lawsuits. Prior to 2025, the SEC was investigating non-fungible token marketplaces and suing crypto exchanges. Binance was just one exchange the SEC alleged was illegally operating as an unregistered broker, clearinghouse and exchange. Others included Coinbase and Kraken.

The SEC’s about-turn came after Donald Trump retook office as the U.S. President, appointing Commissioner Mark Uyeda as acting chair and nominating Paul Atkins to be the agency’s full chair. Atkins was confirmed and sworn into office last month.

Last week, Binance announced it would list USD1, a stablecoin issued by World Liberty Financial, a crypto company tied to Trump, some of Trump’s children and some of his affiliates.

Earlier Thursday, SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce said during an appearance at Bitcoin 2025 in Las Vegas that some crypto investors should not expect a bailout or government protection if they invest in speculative digital assets.

UPDATE (May 29, 2025, 22:08 UTC): Adds additional detail.

UPDATE (May 29, 22:45): Adds Binance.US statement.

UPDATE (May 29, 23:05): Adds USD1 note.

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage promised today to pass crypto-friendly legislation and establish a bitcoin BTC reserve at the Bank of England if he comes into government.

“We have put together… the Crypto Assets and Digital Finance Bill. We will campaign for this, and we will put it in place when we win in the general election,” Farage said on stage at the Bitcoin conference in Las Vegas.

“We are going to launch, in Britain, a crypto revolution. We’re going to make London one of the major trading centers of the world. We’re deadly serious,” Farage added.

The legislation will prohibit banks from debanking customers for interacting with crypto, Farage stated. He also talked about implementing a capital gains tax of 10% of crypto assets, arguing that “If taxes are reasonable, people will pay them.” He argued against the implementation of a British central bank digital currency (CBDC) as well.

Reform UK has been ascendant in British polls recently; the party also performed well in local elections earlier in May. The next general election, however, is currently slated for August 2029.

The party announced on Thursday that it would become the first European political party to accept crypto donations.