Bank of America has agreed to a settlement that will require the second-largest US bank to shell out about $2.85 million to current and former customers.

The class action lawsuit alleged BofA violated New York’s Exempt Income Protection Act (EIPA) by mishandling and charging improper fees to customers who had been slapped with court-order restraints.

Specifically, the lawsuit says that BofA grouped multiple accounts together before calculating how much of the customers’ funds were legally protected, leading to more funds being frozen than allowed by law.

The lawsuit also alleged BofA issued checks to debtors for the exempt amount by regular mail, meaning that the class members faced delays in accessing the money needed for daily expenses.

BofA has agreed to the terms of the settlement without admitting to any wrongdoing. On top of the multi-million-dollar payout, BofA says it is permanently changing its practices, including:

• Stopping aggregating accounts when computing how much money is protected by law.
• Notifying account holders of their rights if their accounts had been restrained.
• Halting the practice of issuing checks for exempt funds so customers can access their money as needed via debit cards, online bank transfers and others.

The settlement is subject to court approval.

Follow us on X, Facebook and Telegram

Don’t Miss a Beat – Subscribe to get email alerts delivered directly to your inbox

Check Price Action

Surf The Daily Hodl Mix

&nbsp

Disclaimer: Opinions expressed at The Daily Hodl are not investment advice. Investors should do their due diligence before making any high-risk investments in Bitcoin, cryptocurrency or digital assets. Please be advised that your transfers and trades are at your own risk, and any losses you may incur are your responsibility. The Daily Hodl does not recommend the buying or selling of any cryptocurrencies or digital assets, nor is The Daily Hodl an investment advisor. Please note that The Daily Hodl participates in affiliate marketing.

Generated Image: Midjourney

Telegram founder Pavel Durov, detained in France since last August, was granted temporary permission to leave the country for Dubai.

Agence France Presse (AFP) first reported the news on Saturday. Shortly afterward, the cryptocurrency market reacted.

Toncoin (TON), the digital token linked to Telegram’s Telegram Open Network (TON), saw a dramatic surge in its trading volume, increasing by more than 15% following the announcement.

The TON token, currently valued at $3.34, has been a key development of Telegram’s blockchain initiatives.

In addition, Notcoin (NOT), a token for a popular tap-to-earn mini-app on the platform, also experienced a rally, rising by over 12.7% at the time of publication.

Durov, a billionaire Russian exile who founded the popular messaging app Telegram in 2013, faces multiple charges linked to allegedly enabling organized crime.

Authorities allowed Durov to depart for Dubai, AFP reported citing an unnamed source. The move follows a ruling by an investigating judge who accepted Durov’s request to modify the conditions of his supervision several days ago.

Durov, 40, has been under investigation for several infractions, including accusations related to terrorism, drug trafficking, fraud, money laundering, and child abuse content on the Telegram platform.

He was initially arrested in August following his indictment, which led to a ban on his departure from the country.

Durov addressed the legal challenges in a statement posted to his official Telegram channel in September. Expressing his surprise at the charges, Durov criticized French authorities for bypassing official communication channels with Telegram’s EU representative and instead questioning him directly. He argued that holding a CEO accountable for crimes allegedly committed by others on a platform—especially one operating under pre-smartphone laws—was a “misguided approach.”

In his statement, Durov also defended Telegram’s moderation practices, highlighting the platform’s daily efforts to remove harmful content and its established connections with NGOs for urgent requests. Despite the legal troubles, he reaffirmed his commitment to ensuring the safety and security of Telegram’s vast user base, which now totals nearly one billion people.

As the investigation continues, Durov’s legal battles are likely to remain a topic of significant attention, especially as Telegram’s cryptocurrency initiatives continue to expand.

Whether the latest legal developments will have any long-term effects on Telegram’s operations or the value of its associated tokens remains to be seen.

A federal judge is reportedly ruling that top US-based crypto exchange Coinbase must face a class action lawsuit in New York.

According to a new report from Reuters, Paul Engelmayer, a judge for the Southern District of New York, is rejecting Coinbase’s argument that it did not qualify as a “statutory seller” to dismiss a lawsuit that alleges the firm illegally sold securities in the form of digital assets to customers without being registered as a broker-dealer.

Engelmayer says that Coinbase’s claim was invalid because it never passed title to the 79 crypto assets traded by customers, noting that “customers on Coinbase transact solely with Coinbase itself.”

In a statement, Coinbase says,

“Coinbase does not list, offer, or sell securities on its exchange. We look forward to vindicating the remaining claims in the district court.”

Engelmayer further rejected to dismiss claims governed by the laws of California, New Jersey and Florida, noting that the complainants have sufficient grounds to allege that Coinbase was the direct seller of the crypto assets.

In February of 2023, Engelmayer dropped the lawsuit but an appellate court reviewed the case and decided to return some parts of it to the judge.

In June 2023, Coinbase was sued by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for allegedly violating securities laws as well as operating as an unlicensed broker-dealer.

However, a year later, Coinbase filed its own lawsuit against the regulatory agency alongside the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) claiming that they were out to intentionally cripple the digital assets industry.

As stated by Coinbase at the time,

“The SEC has waged a scorched-earth enforcement war on digital-asset firms that, in conjunction with efforts by other financial regulators to de-bank crypto firms, is designed to cripple the digital asset industry.”

Don’t Miss a Beat – Subscribe to get email alerts delivered directly to your inbox

Check Price Action

Follow us on X, Facebook and Telegram

Surf The Daily Hodl Mix

&nbsp

Disclaimer: Opinions expressed at The Daily Hodl are not investment advice. Investors should do their due diligence before making any high-risk investments in Bitcoin, cryptocurrency or digital assets. Please be advised that your transfers and trades are at your own risk, and any losses you may incur are your responsibility. The Daily Hodl does not recommend the buying or selling of any cryptocurrencies or digital assets, nor is The Daily Hodl an investment advisor. Please note that The Daily Hodl participates in affiliate marketing.

Featured Image: Shutterstock/Yurchanka Siarhei