Federal authorities have dropped a criminal investigation into Jesse Powell, co-founder and former CEO of cryptocurrency exchange Kraken.

The FBI investigation, which began in 2023, was looking into the non-profit Verge Center for the Arts’ allegations that Powell hacked its computer accounts and obstructed access to emails. His home was also searched when the investigation began and computers, laptops and cellphones were seized at the time, the New York Times reported last year.

In April this year, federal prosecutors informed Powell’s attorney Brandon Fox that the government had concluded its investigation into the Verge allegations and it was not bringing criminal charges against Powell, documents filed to the Superior Court of the State of California on Monday showed. Prosecutors also said at the time they would return the devices they had seized from Powell’s home, Fox said.

On June 9, his lawyer later received a letter from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of California confirming that the federal government had closed this investigation on April 8 this year. Fox initially asked for this letter to be sent to Powell.

“The FBI’s raid on my house was devastating both personally and professionally. It is still shocking that the raid was premised on Verge Center for the Art’s baseless accusations against me,» Powell said in a statement.

«I will continue to pursue the appropriate legal remedies against those who created this disaster by making false statements to law enforcement,” he added.

The closure of the case comes as Kraken weighs the possibility of an initial public offering by the first quarter of 2026. Powell stepped down as the exchange’s CEO in 2023 according to his LinkedIn, but remains on its board of directors.

Kraken remains one of the largest U.S.-based crypto exchanges and has been the target of increased regulatory scrutiny in recent years. In 2023, it settled with the Securities and Exchange Commission and shut its U.S. staking services.

Parts of this article was generated with assistance from AI tools and reviewed by our editorial team to ensure accuracy and adherence to our standards. For more information, see CoinDesk’s full AI Policy.

Toncoin (TON) extended its impressive rally Monday after Telegram began rolling out its TON Wallet to 87 million users across the United States. The update enables seamless crypto transfers and staking directly within the messaging app’s interface — with no need for external downloads, extensions, or logins.

The TON Wallet, developed by The Open Platform (TOP) and built on the TON blockchain, allows Telegram users to send and receive stablecoins and other digital tokens as easily as sending a message. According to a CNBC report published Tuesday, this marks the first time a self-custodial wallet has been embedded in a mainstream messaging platform for the U.S. market.

TOP CEO Andrew Rogozov said the timing reflects a more favorable regulatory climate. “We started considering the U.S. as a more interesting opportunity for us,” he told CNBC, adding that Telegram’s user growth and crypto-savvy audience helped justify the launch.

To simplify the user experience, the TON Wallet employs a split-key recovery model. One part of the backup is linked to the user’s Telegram account and the other to their email — removing the need for a seed phrase. “This is how we simplify the whole thing,” Rogozov said, emphasizing the company’s goal to remove friction from crypto onboarding.

TON Wallet supports staking, token swaps, zero-fee purchases via MoonPay, and on- and off-ramps using debit cards. It also connects to decentralized apps through Telegram’s “Mini Apps” platform, offering a complete in-app Web3 experience.

As of publication, according to CoinDesk Data, TON is trading at $3.4121, up 3% over the past 24 hours. The token has gained 12.2% over the past week and 25.6% over the past month, driven by increased usage, platform integration, and bullish investor sentiment.

Technical Analysis Highlights

• According to CoinDesk Research’s technical analysis data., TON rallied strongly during the 23-hour trading window from July 21 18:00 UTC to July 22 17:00 UTC, climbing from $3.25 to $3.58 and delivering a 10.15% intraday surge at 13:00 UTC on July 22, supported by 46.32 million units of trading volume
• The token broke decisively above key resistance near $3.34, expanding its trading range by $0.38 — or 11.84% — as momentum accelerated.
• In the final hour from 16:39 to 17:38 UTC on July 22, TON dropped from $3.53 to $3.44, shedding 2.54% amid weakening volume and forming lower peaks that signaled a short-term pullback despite strong overall bullish structure.

Disclaimer: Parts of this article were generated with the assistance from AI tools and reviewed by our editorial team to ensure accuracy and adherence to our standards. For more information, see CoinDesk’s full AI Policy.

Global crypto tax reporting still has major cracks — and tokenized stocks may be the catalyst that forces the system to catch up.

In recent weeks, platforms like Robinhood and Gemini have started offering tokenized stocks to users in the European Union. These blockchain-based derivatives mimic the price of real equities like Apple and Tesla and allow users to trade 24/7, free from the limitations of traditional market hours.

That might sound like a leap forward for accessibility and innovation. But if these products continue to gain traction, and firms like Galaxy Digital believe they will siphon liquidity from traditional exchanges, regulators will face growing pressure to close the reporting gap between crypto platforms and traditional brokers.

Despite the progress the crypto industry has made over the years, crypto tax reporting is still far behind compared to traditional asset exchanges in many parts of the world.

There is still an obvious gap. Take Australia. The Australian Stock Exchange (ASX) provides the tax office with structured data, including sale prices, dates, and proceeds, which is automatically pre-filled into users’ returns.

For crypto, the ATO’s approach is more like a gentle tap on the shoulder to its taxpayers. It presents a notification reminding users to check for taxable events, rather than a detailed pre-filled report. While the ATO knows you are active in crypto because crypto exchanges report you have an account, it does not have the same comprehensive oversight as it does with stock trading.

That approach may have been justifiable in crypto’s early days, when most activity was tied to speculative tokens or NFTs. But now, with platforms likely wanting to expand their offerings of tokenized stocks globally — which are not yet available in Australia but I dare say it is being considered — the lack of tax transparency becomes much harder to justify.

Governments can’t afford to let potential tax revenue slip through the cracks simply because they’re happening onchain. I believe as tokenized stocks start to gain more and more attention over the coming months, regulators will be scrambling to ensure they are prepared.

In the U.S., the IRS is already attempting to catch up. Its new crypto reporting rules, including the long-awaited Form 1099-DA, are set to take effect in 2026. These will require crypto brokers to report user transactions similar to traditional financial institutions.

Meanwhile, Robinhood is reportedly preparing to launch tokenized stocks for U.S. customers.

It raises a timely question…will that rollout coincide with the new IRS requirements?

On a global scale, the OECD’s Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework (CARF), also due in 2026, will enforce transaction data sharing across jurisdictions, similar to how banks comply with the Common Reporting Standard.

If tokenized stocks are going to mimic real equities then the tax data reporting around them needs to match accordingly.

The days of crypto existing in a regulatory gray zone are numbered. Whether platforms are ready or not, the era of full tax transparency is coming and tokenized stocks may be the turning point that forces it into reality.

I believe that moment will arrive within the next five years.