Crypto Litigation Tracker
An overview of major litigation cases in crypto. Includes docket links and press releases.
Although this page is frequently updated and contains what the authors believe are most of the cases involving crypto in the designated sections, new actions are frequently filed. You should always conduct your own research and, as relevant, retain your own counsel before making any legal decisions.
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SEC
| Date / Type | Name / Court / Docket Link | Notes |
|---|---|---|
2024.09.27 🟧 US 🟫 UBD | SEC v. Mango Labs, LLC, No. 1:24-cv-07334 (S.D.N.Y. 2024.09.27) – Press Release | Settled charges against Mango DAO for unregistered offer and sale of MNGO tokens; settled charges against Blockworks Foundation and Mango Labs for unregistered broker activity for assets offered and sold as securities on the Mango Markets platform. |
2024.09.24 🟧 US 🟥 F | SEC v. TrueCoin LLC, No. 3:24-v-06684 (N.D. Cal. 2024.09.24) – Press Release | Action against issuer of TUSD, a stablecoin, for selling it as an unregistered investment contract and falsely marketing it as safe and trustworthy by claiming that TUSD was fully backed by U.S. dollars or their equivalent, when in fact a substantial portion of assets backing TUSD were invested in a risky offshore investment fund. By September 2024, 99% of the reserves were in the speculative fund. |
2024.09.18 🟧 US 🟫 UBD | In re Rari Capital Infrastructure LLC, No. 3-22143 (Admin. Proc. 2024.09.18) | Unregistered sale of fTokens through the Fuse crypto trading platform, and the platform acted as an unregistered broker. Settled charges. |
2024.09.17 🟥 F | SEC v. Prager Metis CPAs, LLC, No. 1:23-cv-23723-RNS (S.D.N.Y. 2024.09.17) – Press Release – Settlement | Settled charges against accounting firm for failures in auditing FTX prior to its collapse, in particular its failure to understand the connection between FTX and Alameda. |
2024.09.17 🟥 F | SEC v. CoinW6, No. 2:24-cv-07924 (C.D. Cal. 2024.09.17) – Press Release | Fraud charges for romance scam. As alleged, the schemers claimed that investors could earn up to a three percent return per day from CoinW6's crypto asset staking, mining, and yield farming products. In reality, investors' funds were misappropriated, and their ostensible investments, profits, and account balances were fictitious. |
2024.09.17 🟥 F | SEC v. Nanobit Ltd., No. 2:24-cv-06517 (E.D.N.Y. 2024.09.17) – Press Release | Fraud charges for relationship investment scam. Scheme participants impersonated financial industry professionals in WhatsApp groups to build investors' trust and then solicited their investments through the supposed NanoBit crypto asset trading platform. NanoBit allegedly falsely claimed that its affiliate, NanobitUS Securities, was a SEC-registered broker. |
2024.09.16 🟧 US | In re Flyflish Club, LLC, No. 3-22114 (Admin. Proc. 2024.09.16) – Press Release – Dissent (Peirce & Uyeda) | Enforcement action against issuer of "membership" NFTs to an exclusive restaurant, bar, and club. Proceeds ($14m) from the sale of the NFTs was used to fund the construction of the restaurant, and the NFTs were the sole method individuals could become members of the club. Flyfish also received royalties from secondary market sales of the NFTs. $750k fine in addition to other remedies. |
2024.09.12 🟫 UBD 🟨 UEC | In re eToro USA LLC, No. 3-22106 (Admin. Proc. 2024.09.12) – Press Release | Settled charges that eToro operated as an unregistered broker and clearing agency of crypto securities, $1.5m fine and agreement to stop trading crypto assets other than BTC, BCH, and ETH. |
2024.09.03 ⭕️ Other | In re Galois Capital Management, LLC, No. 3-22043 (Admin. Proc. 2024.09.03) – Press Release | Settled charges against the firm for failing to store investor's crypto assets using a qualified custodian, despite being a registered investment advisor, in violation of the Investment Advisers Act of 1940. |
2024.08.12 🟥 F 🟧 US 🟫 UBD | SEC v. Nova Tech Ltd, No. 12:24-cv-23058 (S.D. Fla. 2024.08.12) | Action against Nova Tech and its principals for running a fraudulent crypto trading investment and pyramid scheme, raising crypto assets worth more than $650 million from over 200,000 investors. |
2024.06.28 🟧 US 🟫 UBD | SEC v. Consensys Software Inc., No. 1:24-cv-04578 (E.D.N.Y. 2024.06.28) – Press Release | Action against Consensys, maker of MetaMask, alleging it engaged in the unregistered offer and sale of securities through its MetaMask Staking service and with operating as an unregistered broker through MetaMask Staking and its MetaMask Swaps service. |
2024.04.24 🟥 F 🟧 US | SEC v. Geosyn Mining, LLC, No. 4:24-cv-00365 (N.D. Tex. 2024.04.24) – Press Release | Action against a crypto asset mining and hosting company for engaging in an unregistered and fraudulent securities offering. The founders raised $5.6 million from investors on false promises of favorable contracts with electricity providers, never purchased mining machines, and did not follow through on other promises. |
2024.04.12 🟫 UBD | In re Taffinder, No. 3-21907 (Admin. Proc. 2024.04.12) In re Serrano, No. 3-21913 (Admin. Proc. 2024.04.12) | Settled charges against Taffinder and Serrano for operating as unregistered dealers in crypto asset securities in the form of Venture Agreements for CryptoFX, LLC. Two-year bar from the industry. |
2024.03.14 🟥 F | SEC v. Sanchez, No. 4:24-cv-00939 (S.D. Tex. 2024.03.14) – Press Release | Enforcement action against 17 individuals involved in $300 million Ponzi scheme involving CryptoFX LLC that targeted 40,000 predominantly Latino investors. This follows the emergency action in SEC v. Chavez, No. 4:22-cv-03359 (S.D. Tex. 2022.09.19), below that halted the scheme. |
2024.03.05 🟫 UBD | In re Shapeshift AG, No. 3-21891 (Admin. Proc. 2024.03.05) | Settled action against ShapeShift for serving as an unregistered dealer under the Exchange Act. Shapeshift had dissolved its business model in January 2021, no longer serving as the counterparty with users, and winding down its corporate structure. $275,000 civil penalty. |
2024.02.29 ⭕️ Other | In re Pardo Mehler, Esq., No. 3-21879 (Admin. Proc. 2024.02.29) | Order barring attorney from appearing before the commission based on guilty plea in fraudulent unregistered offering of digital asset securities. |
2024.02.07 🟧 US | In re TradeStation Crypto, Inc., No. 3-21845 (Admin. Proc. 2024.02.07) | Unregistered offer and sale of securities in the form of Interest Feature accounts, which allowed U.S. investors to tender to TradeStation crypto in exchange for the promise of a variable interest rate. TradeStation voluntarily stopped permitted U.S. investors to do so in June 2022. Civil penalty of $1.5 million. |
2024.02.02 🟥 F | SEC v. Sewell, No. 1:24-cv-00137 (D. Del. 2024.02.02) – Press Release | Settled enforcement action in connection with a fraudulent investment fund targeting students of Sewell's online crypto trading course American Bitcoin Academy, costing students $1.2 million. The fund never launched, Sewell instead held the money in bitcoin, but lost it when Sewell's crypto wallet was hacked and looted. Disgorgement of $1.6 million and civil penalty for Sewell of $223,229. |
2024.01.29 🟥 F 🟧 US | SEC v. Lee, No. 1:24-cv-00296 (D. Md. 2024.01.29) | Charges against creators of "HyperFund," alleged to be a fraudulent ponzi scheme that collected over $1.7 billion from investors by promising high returns purportedly based on crypto mining operations; but the scheme had no revenue other than from investors. |
2023.12.22 🟧 US | In re Barnbridge DAO, No. 3-21817 (Admin. Proc. 2023.12.22) | Action against the Barnbridge DAO itself based on the SMART Yield bonds. $1,457,000 disgorgement and disabling the product and related smart contracts. |
2023.12.22 🟧 US | In re Ward, No. 3-21815 (Admin. Proc. 2023.12.22) | Action against founds of Barnbridge DAO regarding its SMART Yield bonds, which allowed investors to buy bonds with crypto and receive yield at either fixed or variable APRs. More than $509 in crypto was invested. $125,000 fine for each. |
2023.12.13 ⭕ Other | SEC v. Dunbar, No. 4:23-MC-21-P (N.D. Tex. 2023.12.13) – Press Release (noting enforcing of investigative subpoenas) (2024.02.14) | Action to enforce investigative subpoenas against high-ranking promoters of a crypto asset investment program marketed under the name "NovaTech." |
2023.11.20 🟧 US 🟨 UEC 🟫 UBD | SEC v. Payward, Inc., No. 3:23-cv-06003 (N.D. Cal. 2023.11.20) – Press Release | Shortly after settling with the SEC regarding its staking program, an enforcement action against Kraken claiming it operates as an unregistered exchange, broker, and clearing house by selling (also unregistered) crypto asset securities. |
2023.09.28 🟧 US 🟥 F | SEC v. Woodbury, No. 1:23-cv-14255 (N.D. Ill. 2023.09.28) – Press Release (noting final judgments in favor of SEC) (2024.02.07) | Enforcement action against promoters of fraudulent actions of two promoters of CoinDeal. The promoters promised astronomical returns from the imminent sale of anonymous blockchain technology, misappropriating hundreds of thousands of dollars. No sale of CoinDeal ever occurred. |
2023.09.13 🟧 US | In re Stoner Cats 2, LLC, No. 11233 (Admin Proc. 2023.09.13) – Press Release – Dissenting Statement of Commissioners Peirce and Uyeda | Second case against NFT project, this one based on the creation of a series of short animated films featuring stars like Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis. The order concludes the Stoner Cats NFTs were sold as an unregistered securities offering, on the basis that the proceeds of the NFT sales would be used to develop the animated films and because there was an active secondary market in the NFTs before and after the release of the films. Settlement order required destroying all NFTs in company's possession, publishing notice of the order, and administering distribution plan for the $1 million civil penalty to harmed investors. |
2023.09.07 🟧 US | In re Linus Financial, Inc., No. 3-21627 (Admin. Proc. 2023.09.07) | Settlement regarding unregistered offer/sale of interest-bearing accounts ("Linus Interest Accounts") where users could deposit fiat currency in exchange for the promise to provide periodic payments by converting the funds to USDC and using them to yield farm through DeFi liquidity pools or lending them to institutional investors. |
2023.08.28 🟧 US | In re Impact Theory, LLC, No. 11226 (Admin. Proc. 2023.08.28) – Press Release – Dissenting Statement of Commissioners Peirce and Uyeda | First of its kind enforcement action based on sale of NFTs as an unregistered securities offering as an investment contract under the Howey test based on promises of “tremendous value” to KeyNFT purchasers, raising $29 million. Impact Theory also stated that it would use the offering proceeds for “development,” “bringing on more team,” and “creating more projects.” Settled in exchange for: destruction of all KeyNFTs held by Impact Theory, removing royalties required by the smart contract, and disgorgement/penalties of over $5 million, among other remedies. |
2023.08.23 🟥 F 🟧 US | SEC v. DeSalvo, No. 1:23-cv-08092 (D.N.J. 2023.08.23) – Press Release | Fraudulent sale of “Blazar token” through an unregistered securities offering, an ICO, promising extraordinary investment returns, while falsely claiming that the token was registered with the SEC. DeSalvo rapidly sold his massive amount of Blazar tokens shortly after the ICO, crashing the market price of the token, and misappropriated investor funds for personal use. Related criminal action by DOJ brought simultaneously. |
2023.08.21 ⭕ Other | In re Titan Global Capital Management USA LLC, No. 3-21569 (Admin. Proc. 2023.08.21) | Among other violations, FinTech investment adviser made misleading disclosures in violation of Advisers Act Rule 206(4)-1 by advertising 2,700% returns for its "Titan Crypto strategy." The advertised hyptothetical returns were based on the assumption the fund's performance in its first three weeks would continue for an entire year. |
2023.07.31 🟥 F 🟧 US | SEC v. Schueler, No. 1:23-cv-05749 (E.D.N.Y. 2023.07.31) – Press Release | Fraudulent and unregistered sale of the following tokens by Richard Scheuler a/k/a Richard Heart: Hex, PulseChain (PLS), and PulseX (PLSX), marketed as the first high-yield "blockchain certificate of deposit," promoted as an investment designed to make people "rich" by offering returns as high as 38 percent. |
2023.07.26 🟥 F 🟧 US 🟫 UBD | SEC v. Digital Licensing Inc., No. 2:23-cv-00482 (D. Utah 2023.07.26) – Press Release – Sanctions Order (finding SEC lawyers had acted in bad faith and committed gross abuse of power in seeking an injunction and receiver, and ordering SEC to pay DEBT Box's attorneys' fees and costs) (2024.03.18) | Action against proprietors of "DEBT Box" that fraudulently sold investors unregistered crypto asset securities in the form of "node licenses" to permit them to "mine" a number of different cryptocurrencies supposedly tied to real-world assets like gold and oil; in reality the tokens were simply created ERC-20 tokens and were never mined and not tied to real world assets. Defendants instead used investor funds for personal luxry expenses. |
2023.07.21 🟧 ICO | SEC v. Quanstamp, Inc., File No. 3-21535 (Admin Proc. 2023.07.21) – Press Release | Administrative settlement regarding ICO of QSP tokens in 2017, raising $28 million. Settlement includes $3.5 million in disgorgement, fines, and interest, and a requirement to burn all remaining QSP tokens in Quanstamp's treasury. |
2023.07.13 🟥 F 🟧 US | SEC v. Celsius Network Ltd., No. (S.D.N.Y. 2023.07.13) – Press Release | Parallel enforcement action with DOJ, CFTC, and FTC. Celsius along with former CEO Alexander Mashinsky, charged with securities fraud and unregistered sale of the company's crypto token, CEL. |
2023.06.22 🟥 F | SEC v. Ichioka, No. 3:23-cv-03093 (N.D. Cal. 2023.06.22) – Press Release | Parallel enforcement action with DOJ and CFTC. Securities fraud charges over crypto-based scheme "Ichioka Ventures." Falsely promised 10% monthly returns, defrauding 100+ people of tens of millions. Used funds for luxury items, personal expenses, and repaying older investors. |
2023.06.06 🟧 US 🟨 UEC 🟫 UBD 🟪 CP | SEC v. Coinbase, Inc., No. 1:23-cv-04738 (S.D.N.Y. 2023.06.06) – Press Release | Action against crypto exchange Coinbase and its holding company for operating as an unregistered securities broker, exchange, and clearing house, selling unregistered securities through its platform as well as its Prime and Wallet services. Alleges SOL, ADA, MATIC, FIL, SAND, AXS, CHZ, FLOW, ICP, NEAR, VGX, DASH, and NEXO tokens are securities, as well as Coinbase's staking program for XTZ, ATOM, ETH, ADA, and SOL. |
2023.06.05 🟧 US 🟥 F 🟨 UEC 🟫 UBD 🟪 CP | SEC v. Binance Holdings Ltd., No. 1:23-cv-01599 (D.D.C. 2023.06.05) – Press Release | Action against Binance crypto exchange (both foreign and U.S. entities) and its founder Changpeng Zhao (CZ) for unregistered sales of securities, running an unregistered securities exchange / broker dealer / clearing house, and committing fraud in so doing. Alleges BNB, BUSD, SOL, ADA, MATIC, FIL, ATOM, SAND, MANA, ALGO, AXS, and COTI tokens are securities, as well as Binance's BNB Vault, Simple Earn, and Staking-as-a-Service programs. |
2023.05.11 🟥 F | SEC v. GA Investors, No. 1:23-cv-11050 (D. Mass. 2023.05.11) – Press Release – Press Release (final judgment in SEC's favor) (2024.04.02) | Action against GA Investors for offering fraudulent investment scheme that required investors to buy and deposit crypto on the promise of extraordinary returns. The investors could not withdraw funds and defendants misappropriated them. Disgorgement of $70k and civil penalty of $1.1 million. |
2023.04.17 🟫 UBD 🟨 UEC 🟪 CP | SEC v. Bittrex, Inc., No. 2:23-cv-00580 (W.D. Wash. 2023.04.17) – Press Release – Settlement (2023.08.10) | Action against Bittrex crypto exchange and its founder for operating as an unregistered exchange, broker, and clearinghouse, and for the sale of unregistered securities in the form of crypto assets OMG, DASH, ALGO, TKN, NGC, IHT. Settled for $24 million in fines and penalties. |
2023.03.29 🟧 US 🟥 F 🟫 UBD 🟪 CP | SEC v. Beaxy Digital, Ltd., No. 1:23-cv-01962 (N.D. Ill. 2023.03.29) | Action against crypto exchange Beaxy for being an unregistered securities exchange and selling unregistered securities BXY and DRGN; misappropriation by one founder of at least $900,000; consent judgments entered against market makers on the exchange for market making in those tokens while being unregistered dealers. |
2023.03.22 🟧 US 🟥 F 🟦 MM 🟩 AT | SEC v. Sun, No. 1:23-cv-02433 (S.D.N.Y. 2023.03.22) – Press Release | Action against Justin Sun and his companies for unregistered offer and sale of crypto asset securities Tronix (TRX) and BitTorrent (BTT); also includes charges for fraudulently manipulating the secondary market for TRX through extensive wash trading, and paying two celebrities — DeAndre Cortez Way (Soulja Boy) and Austin Mahone — to promote TRX without disclosing their compensation. |
2023.03.22 🟩 AT | – In re Lindsay Dee Lohan, No. 3-21349 – In re Michele Anne Mason (a/k/a Kendra Lust), No. 3-21350 – In re Miles Parks McCollum (a/k/a Lil Yachty), No. 3-21351 – In re Jake Joseph Paul, No. 3-21347 – In re Shaffer Chimere Smith (a/k/a Ne-Yo), No. 3-21346 – In re Aliaune Damala Badara Akon Thiam (a/k/a Akon), No. 3-21348 (SEC Admin. Proc. 2023.03.22) – Press Release | Six celebrities settled with the SEC related to their promotion of the TRX token without disclosing that they were paid promotions or the amounts of their compensation. |
2023.03.03 🟧 US 🟥 F 🟫 UBD | SEC v. Green United, LLC, No. 2:23-cv-00159 (D. Utah 2023.03.03) | Fraudulent offering of unregistered securities that was purportedly a blockchain mining operation in a new token GREEN; no blockchain existed, no mining was performed. |
2023.02.28 🟥 F | SEC v. Nishad Singh, No. 1:23-cv-01691 (S.D.N.Y. 2023.02.28) – Press Release | Fraud action against senior FTX executive for defrauding investors in FTX as well as its customers. |
2023.02.23 🟥 F ⭕️ Other | SEC v. BKCoin Management, LLC, No. 1:23-cv-20719 (S.D. Fla. 2023.02.23) – Press Release | Fraud action against crypto investment fund; $100 million raised, but money was used to make Ponzi-like payments and to fund lavish personal lifestyles. The SEC obtained an injunction and asset freeze. Complaint also alleges violations of the Advisers Act. |
2023.02.17 🟩 AT | In re Paul Anthony Pierce, No. 3-21305 (SEC Admin. Proc. 2023.02.17) – Press Release | Settled anti-touting charges against former NBA player related to EMAX token. $1.4 million fine. |
2023.02.16 🟥 F 🟧 US 🟪 CP ⭕️ Other | SEC v. Terraform Labs PTE Ltd., No. 1:23-cv-01346 (S.D.N.Y. 2023.02.16) – Press Release – Press Release (2023.04.13) – Ruling on Motion to Dismiss (2023.07.31) | Fraudulent offer and sale of unregistered securities, including algorithmic stablecoin UST, related coin LUNA, and other assets. Unregistered offer of security-based swaps and effecting transactions in security-based swaps with ineligible participants. Control person liability against founder Do Kwon. |
2023.02.09 🟧 US | SEC v. Payward Ventures (d/b/a Kraken), No. 3:23-cv-00588 (N.D. Cal. 2023.02.09) – Press Release – Dissenting Statement of Hester Peirce | Unregistered sale of "staking-as-a-service" securities whereby Kraken would pool user deposited crypto assets for staking, in exchange for returns of up to 20% or more. $30 million settlement entered without proceeding past complaint. |
2023.01.20 🟥 F 🟦 MM | SEC v. Eisenberg, No. 1:23-cv-00503 (S.D.N.Y. 2023.01.20) – Press Release | Fraud and market manipulation of Mango Markets and its tokens in order to steal $116 million. |
2023.01.19 🟧 US | In re Nexo Capital Inc., No. 3-21281 (SEC Admin. Proc. 2023.01.19) – Press Release | Unregistered offer and sale of the Nexo Earn Interest Product, an interest-bearing crypto asset account. |
2023.01.12 🟧 US | SEC v. Genesis Global Capital, LLC, No. 1:23-cv-00287 (S.D.N.Y. 2023.01.12) – Press Release | Unregistered sale of securities in the form of the Gemini Earn crypto asset lending program. |
2023.01.04 🟥 F 🟧 US | SEC v. Chandran, No. 2:23-cv-10017 (E.D. Mich. 2023.01.04) – Press Release | Unregistered offering fraud of "CoinDeal," raising $45 million. |
2022.12.21 🟥 F | SEC v. Ellison, No. 1:22-cv-10794 (S.D.N.Y. 2022.12.21) – Press Release (2022.12.21) – Press Release (2023.01.19) | Fraud in offer/sale/purchase of FTX stock by Caroline Ellison and Gary Wang; alleges in detail that FTT was a crypto asset security. Consent judgments entered by both defendants. |
2022.12.14 🟥 F 🟧 US | SEC v. Da Silva, No. 1:22-cv-10534 (S.D.N.Y. 2022.12.14) – Press Release | Fraudulent pyramid scheme, Forcount Trader Systems, targeting Spanish-speaking communities promising investors returns in a fake crypto asset trading and mining operation. |
2022.12.13 🟥 F | SEC v. Bankman-Fried, No. 1:22-cv-10501-PKC (S.D.N.Y. 2022.12.13) – Press Release (2022.12.13) – Press Release (2023.01.19) | Fraud in offer/sale/purchase of FTX stock by Sam Bankman-Fried, founder of FTX, in part based on misleading statements re FTT token and risk strategy. |
2022.11.18 ⭕️ Other | In re The Registration Statement of American CryptoFed DAO LLC, No. 3-21243 (SEC Admin. Proc. 2022.11.18) – Press Release – Order Denying Motion to Dismiss (2023.06.07) (with dissents) | Order instituting public hearings regarding alleged omissions and misstatements in attempt to register two crypto asset securities. |
2022.11.03 🟥 F 🟧 US 🟫 UBD | SEC v. Braga, No. 2:22-cv-01563 (W.D. Wash. 2022.11.03) – Press Release | "Trade Coin Club" ponzi scheme that raised more than 82,000 bitcoin, but diverted assets for personal purposes. |
2022.11.03 🟥 F 🟧 US | SEC v. Rounsville, No. 3:22-cv-02458 (N.D. Tex. 2022.11.03) – Press Release | Fraudulent promotion of crypto asset trading program Arbitraging.co, which promised returns of up to 1% per day. Settled the same day it was filed for $207k disgorgement, officer-and-director bar. |
2022.10.03 🟩 AT | In re Kimberly Kardashian, No. 3-21197 (SEC Admin. Proc. 2022.10.03) – Press Release | Anti-touting re EMAX tokens. $1.26M penalty through settlement. |
2022.09.30 🟥 F | SEC v. Arbitrade Ltd., No. 1:22-cv-23171 (S.D. Fla. 2022.09.30) – Press Release | Pump-and-dump re DIG tokens. |
2022.09.28 🟥 F 🟦 MM 🟧 US 🟪 CP 🟫 UBD | SEC v. The Hydrogen Technology Corp., No. 1:22-cv-08284 (S.D.N.Y 2022.09.28) – Press Release | Fraudulent, unregistered sale of Hydro tokens, market manipulation re same. |
2022.09.19 🟥 F 🟧 US ⭕️ Other | SEC v. Chavez, No. 4:22-cv-03359 (S.D. Tex. 2022.09.19) – Press Release | Fraudulent sale of crypto investment services and Ponzi scheme, instead diverting client funds for personal purposes and other business ventures. Additional charges include violations of the Advisers Act. |
2022.09.19 🟧 US | In re Sparkster, Ltd., No. 3-21103 (SEC Admin. Proc. 2022.09.19) – Press Release – Fund administration order (2024.04.11) | Unregistered sale of SPRK tokens. |
2022.09.19 🟩 AT | SEC v. Balina, No. 1:22-cv-950 (W.D. Tex. 2022.09.19) | Anti-touting re SPRK tokens. Jurisdiction based on Ethereum validator concentration in United States. |
2022.09.15 🟥 F | SEC v. Edelman, No. 1:22-cv-07892 (S.D.N.Y. 2022.09.15) | Fraud enforcement re investment of funds in digital assets. |
2022.09.14 🟥 F 🟧 US | SEC v. Chicago Crypto Capital LLC, No. 22-cv-2975 (N.D. Ill. 2022.09.14) – Press Release | Fraud enforcement re unregistered crypto asset securities offering. |
2022.08.16 🟧 ICO | SEC v. Dragonchain, Inc., No. 2:22-cv-01145 (W.D. Wash. 2022.08.16) – Press Release | Unregistered offering of Dragon coin |
2022.08.09 🟧 ICO | In re Bloom Protocol, LLC, No. 3-20952 (SEC Admin. Proc. 2022.08.09) – Press Release | Unregistered ICO related to an online identity attestation platform. |
2022.08.01 🟥 F | SEC v. Okhotnikov, No. 1:22-cv-03978 (N.D. Ill. 2022.08.01) – Press Release | Ponzi/fraud enforcement against founders of Forsage. |
2022.07.21 🟥 F | SEC v. Wahi, No. 2:22-cv-01009 (W.D. Wash. 2022.07.21) – Press Release – Press Release (noting default judgment obtained against Ramani ordering disgorgement of $817k and civil penalty of $1.63m) (2024.03.11) | Insider trading charges against former Coinbase employees based on 25 tokens, 9 of which — AMP, RLY, DDX, XYO, RGT, LCX, POWR, DFX, KROM — are described as crypto asset securities. |
2022.06.30 🟥 F | SEC v. Empires Consulting Corp., No. 1:22-cv-21995 (S.D. Fla. 2022.06.30) | Founders of EmpiresX misappropriated $40m raised from investors. Related CFTC and DOJ actions. |
2022.04.28 🟧 US | SEC v. Chiang, No. 3:22-cv-0600 (TWE) (WVG) (S.D. Cal. 2022.04.28) – Press Release | NASGO sold SNP tokens as unregistered securities |
2022.04.27 🟥 F 🟧 US | SEC v. Block Bits Capital, LLC, No. 3:22-cv-02563 (N.D. Cal. 2022.04.27) – Press Release | fraudulent/unregistered sale of securities; parallel criminal actions against founders |
2022.04.27 🟥 F 🟧 US | SEC v. Mata, No. 3:22-cv-02565 (N.D. Cal. 2022.04.27) | (founder of Block Bits Capital) |
2022.04.07 🟥 F 🟧 US 🟪 CP | SEC v. MCC International Corp., No. 2:22-cv-14129-KMM (S.D. Fla. 2022.04.07) – Press Release | Fraudulent sales of investment in crypto "mining packages" promising daily returns of 1%, paid in bitcoin. Instead investors received "Capital Coin" which could only be used on a fake trading platform. |
2022.03.08 🟧 ICO / US | SEC v. Barksdale, No. 22-cv-1933 (S.D.N.Y. 2022.03.08) – Press Release | Unregistered ICO re Ormeus token |
2022.02.14 🟧 US | In re BlockFi Lending, LLC, No. 3-20758 (SEC Admin. Proc. 2022.02.14) – Press Release | Unregistered sale of crypto lending product. $100M fine split between SEC and 32 states. |
2022.01.18 🟥 F | SEC v. Garcia, No. 1:22-cv-00118 (D. Colo. 2022.01.18) – Press Release | Fraudulent sale of investment in Gold Hawgs Development Corp. for development of new cryptocurrency. Funds instead diverted for personal purposes. |
2022.01.06 🟥 F 🟧 ICO | SEC v. Crowd Machine, Inc., No. 5:22-cv-0076 (N.D. Cal. 2022.01.06) – Press Release | Fraudulent use of ICO sales of CMCT token. |
2021.12.02 🟥 F 🟧 ICO / US | SEC v. Auzins, No. 1:21-cv-6693 (E.D.N.Y. 2021.12.02) – Press Release | Unregistered and fraudulent ICOs re Denaro and Innovamine. |
2021.11.18 🟥 F 🟧 US | SEC v. Ginster, No. 5:21-cv-01957 (C.D. Cal. 2021.11.18) – Press Release | Unregistered and fraudulent securities offering based on purported "cryptocurrency trading and advertising arbitrage." Ginster used funds for personal expenses. |
2021.11.12 ⭕️ Other |
| Petition to compel responses to investigative subpoenas approved by trial court, affirmed on appeal to Second Circuit. Action objecting to service on Do Kwon voluntarily dismissed. |
2021.11.10 ⭕️ Other | In re American CryptoFed DAO LLC, No. 3-20650 (SEC Admin. Proc. 2021.11.10) | Admin procedure re material deficiencies in attempted registration of crypto asset securities, Ducat token and Locke token. |
2021.09.13 🟧 US | In re GTV Media Group Inc., No. 3-20537 (SEC Admin. Proc. 2021.09.13) – Press Release | Settlement regarding unregistered sale of both stock and tokens; GTV and individual executives to pay total fines/penalties/interest of $523.6 million. |
2021.09.08 🟧 ICO / US | SEC v. Rivetz Corp., No. 3:21-cv-30092 (D. Mass. 2021.09.08) – Press Release | Unregistered sale of crypto asset security RvT token through pre-sale and ICO. Detailed allegations re why RvT was a security. |
2021.09.01 🟥 F 🟧 US 🟫 UBD | SEC v. BitConnect, No. 1:21-cv-07349 (S.D.N.Y. 2021.09.01) – Press Release | Fraudulent, unregistered sale of securities in the form of BitConnect lending program that was really a Ponzi-scheme. Over $2 billion (based on 325,000 BTC value) raised through many commissioned, but undisclosed, agents. (See related case against promoters below.) |
2021.08.09 ⭕️ Other | In re Poloniex, LLC, No. 3-20455, Release No. 92607 (SEC Admin. Proc. 2021.08.09) – Press Release | Unregistered digital asset security exchange; settlement totaled $10.3 million, including disgorgement, interest, and fine. |
2021.08.06 🟥 F 🟧 US | In re Blockchain Credit Partners, No. 3-20453, Release Nos. 10961, 92588 (SEC Admin. Proc. 2021.08.06) – Press Release | Unregistered and fraudulent offering of securities through DeFi Money Market. Assets claimed to be backing interest earning tokens were never acquired by DMM. |
2021.08.04 🟥 F 🟧 ICO | In re Uulala, Inc., No. 5:21-cv-01307 (C.D. Cal. 2021.08.04) – Press Release | Unregistered ICO of UULA tokens that included fraudulent representations about underlying payments technology. |
2021.07.14 🟩 AT | In re Blotics, No. 3-20398 (SEC Admin. Proc. 2021.07.14) – Press Release | Coinschedule was paid by persons conducting ICOs to list the offerings on its website, but failed to disclose that fact. Separate statement by Commissioners Peirce and Roisman on failure of SEC to identify which listings were securities. |
2021.07.09 🟥 F | SEC v. Watson, No. 1:21-cv-05923 (S.D.N.Y. 2021.07.09) | Insider trading charges based on disclosure of publicly traded Long Island Iced Tea Co.'s plans to change its name to Long Blockchain Corp. |
2021.06.22 🟥 F 🟧 ICO | In re Loci, Inc., No. 3-20369 (SEC Admin. Proc. 2021.06.22) – Press Release | Fraudulent ICO of LOCIcoin based on misrepresentations about Loci's business. |
2021.06.15 🟥 F 🟧 ICO | SEC v. Hamid, No. 2:21-cv-12542 (D.N.J. 2021.06.15) – Press Release | Additional action re fraudulent ICO of BCT Tokens, purportedly to develop tech for hedge funds, against additional participants. |
2021.06.11 🟥 F 🟧 US | SEC v. Radjabli, No. 2:21-cv-01761 (D.S.C. 2021.06.11) – Press Release | Many frauds, including an offering of Apis Tokens, purportedly representing tokenized interests in Apis Capital's main investment fund. |
2021.05.28 🟧 US 🟫 UBD | SEC v. Brown, No. 1:21-cv-04791-JGK (S.D.N.Y. 2021.05.28) – Press Release | (BitConnect promoters, see above at 2021.09.01) |
2021.03.29 🟧 US | SEC v. LBRY, Inc., No. 1:21-cv-00260 (D.N.H. 2021.03.29) – Press Release | Unregistered sale of LBRY tokens. Court granted MSJ in SEC's favor concluding tokens were securities on Nov. 7, 2022. (Opinion on CaseText, CourtListener) |
2021.03.05 🟥 F 🟧 US | SEC v. Cutting, No. 2:21-cv-00103-BLW (D. Idaho 2021.03.05) – Press Release | Fraudulent fundraising purportedly to invest in digital assets, instead misappropriating assets. |
2021.02.19 ⭕️ Other | In re Long Blockchain Corp., No. 3-20228 (SEC Admin. Proc. 2021.02.19) | Revocation of company's securities for failure to file quarterly and annual reports. |
2021.02.17 🟧 US | SEC v. Coinseed, No. 1:21-cv-01381 (S.D.N.Y. 2021.02.17) – Press Release | Unregistered sale of CSD tokens. |
2021.02.01 🟥 F 🟧 US 🟫 UBD | SEC v. Krstic, No. 1:21-cv-00529 (E.D.N.Y. 2021.02.01) – Press Release | Fraudulent ICO of B2G tokens, misappropriating millions of retail investor funds. |
2021.01.15 🟥 F 🟧 US | In re Wireline, Inc., No. 3-20206 (SEC Admin. Proc. 2021.01.15) – Press Release | Fraudulent, unregistered sale of SAFTs regarding tokens that were never released for a platform that never launched. |
2020.12.23 🟧 US | In re Tierion, Inc., No. 3-20188 (SEC Admin. Proc. 2020.12.23) – Press Release | Unregistered sale of TNT coins for the Tierion Network for blockchain receipts. |
2020.12.22 🟥 F | SEC v. Qin, No. 1:20-cv-10849-LGS (S.D.N.Y. 2020.12.22) – Press Release | Ponzi scheme by purported algorithmic cryptocurrency arbitrage investment platform. |
2020.12.22 🟧 US | SEC v. Ripple Labs, Inc., No. 1:20-cv-10832-AT-SN (S.D.N.Y. 2020.12.22) – Press Release – Ruling on MSJ (2023.07.13) | Unregistered sale of XRP tokens from 2013 through the present. |
2020.12.21 🟧 ICO | In re ShipChain, Inc., No. 3-20185 (SEC Admin. Proc. 2020.12.21) | Unregistered ICO of SHIP tokens to develop a blockchain platform related to shipping and logistics. |
2020.12.09 🟥 F 🟧 ICO | SEC v. Elmaani, No. 1:20-cv-10376 (S.D.N.Y. 2020.12.09) – Press Release | Unregistered sale of Pearl tokens in connection with Oyster Protocol, while also covertly minting a secret supply that Elmaani sold into the market. |
2020.10.05 🟩 AT 🟥 F | SEC v. McAfee, No. 1:20-cv-08281 (S.D.N.Y. 2020.10.05) – Press Release – Settled as to defendant Jimmy Gale Watson on July 14, 2022. | Fraudulently touting 7 (unidentified) ICOs without disclosing promotional status, and also fraudulently scalping holdings from the same ICOs. |
2020.09.30 🟧 ICO | In re Salt Blockchain Inc., No. 3-20106 (SEC Admin. Proc. 2020.09.30) – Press Release – Revocation of registration (2024.09.06) | Unregistered ICO of Salt Tokens to develop a dollar-denominated loan business secured by blockchain assets. |
2020.09.25 🟥 F 🟧 ICO | In re SoluTech, Inc., No. 3-20071 (SEC Admin. Proc. 2020.09.25) – Press Release | Fraudulent ICO of SCRL digital assets to fund blockchain-based platform called the Scroll Network, misrepresenting current revenues and SoluTech product capabilities. |
2020.09.15 🟧 ICO | In re Unikrn, Inc., No. 3-20003 (SEC Admin. Proc. 2020.09.15) – Press Release – Proposed plan of distribution (2024.03.19) | Unregistered ICO of UnikoinGold token to enhance features on a gaming platform and secondary trading market. $6.1 million disgorgement. |
2020.09.10 🟥 F 🟧 ICO 🟦 MM | SEC v. FLiK, No. 1:20-cv-03739 (N.D. Ga. 2020.09.10) – Press Release – Press Release (final judgment obtained in SEC's favor) (2024.03.29) | Fraudulent, unregistered ICO. Funds were misappropriated to purchase luxury goods and real estate for personal use. The defendants consented to entry of final judgment including $2.8m disgorgement, deemed satisfied by restitution orders entered in the related criminal case United States v. Felton, No. 20-CR-347 (N.D. Ga. 2020.09.09), below. |
2020.08.18 🟫 UBD | SEC v. Millan, No. 1:20-cv-06575 (S.D.N.Y. 2020.08.18) – Press Release | Unregistered broker-dealing in AirBit, a pyramid scheme to purportedly achieve high returns through algorithmic digital asset day-trading by robots. |
2020.08.13 🟧 ICO | In re Kelvin Boon, LLC, No. 3-19913 (SEC Admin. Proc. 2020.08.13) – Press Release | Unregistered ICO of Boon Coins to develop a software platform to connect employers with freelancers. |
2020.07.13 ⭕️ Other | In re Plutus Financial Inc., No. 3-19873 (SEC Admin. Proc. 2020.07.13) | Sale of securities-based swaps to ineligible participants, in violation of Securities Act § 5(e), and effecting transactions in those swaps outside of registered exchanges in violation of Exchange Act § 6(l). |
2020.06.25 🟥 F 🟧 ICO | SEC v. NAC Foundation, LLC, No. 3:20-cv-04188 (N.D. Cal. 2020.06.25) – Press Release | Fraudulent, unregistered ICO of "AML BitCoin," a purportedly compliant-focused token, when it had not developed this technology; founders misappropriated funds for personal use. |
2020.06.25 🟥 F 🟧 ICO | SEC v. Abramoff, No. 3:20-cv-04190 (N.D. Cal. 2020.06.25) - Related admin. proceeding. | Personal action against promoter of NAC Foundation, LLC's scheme, above. |
2020.06.16 🟥 F | SEC v. Hvizdzak Capital Management, LLC, No. 1:20-cv-00154 (W.D. Pa. 2020.06.16) – Press Release | Fraudulent offering of securities in crypto investment fund by misrepresenting fund performance, forging financial statements and audit documents. |
2020.05.28 🟧 ICO | In re BitClave PTE Ltd., No. 3-19816 (SEC Admin. Proc. 2020.05.28) – Press Release | Unregistered ICO of CAT tokens to fund blockchain-based search platform for targeted consumer advertising. |
2020.05.07 🟥 F 🟧 US | SEC v. Putnam, No. 2:20-cv-00301 (D. Utah 2020.05.07) – Press Release | Fraudulent offering of securities in purported crypto mining operation, crypto trading packages, and misappropriation of funds. |
2020.04.23 🟥 F 🟧 ICO | SEC v. Dropil Inc., No. 8:20-cv-00793 (C.D. Cal. 2020.04.23) – Press Release | Fraudulent, unregistered sales of DROP tokens. None of the promoted, underlying technology ever existed. Founders took funds for personal use. |
2020.03.16 🟥 F 🟧 ICO | SEC v. Meta 1 Coin Trust, No. 1:20-cv-00273 (W.D. Tex. 2020.03.16) – Press Release | Injunction to stop promoters of fraudulent ICO in Meta 1 Coin, which was backed by nothing. |
2020.02.27 🟩 AT | In re Seagal, No. 3-19712 (SEC Admin. Proc. 2020.02.27) – Press Release | Anti-touting action against actor Steven Seagal re B2G coin ICO. |
2020.02.19 🟧 ICO | In re Enigma MPC, No. 3-19702 (SEC Admin. Proc. 2020.02.19) – Press Release | Unregistered ICO of the ENG Tokens promising to use funds to develop a digital asset trade-testing platform and crypto data marketplace. |
2020.02.11 🟥 F | SEC v. Ackerman, No. 1:20-cv-01181 (S.D.N.Y. 2020.02.11) – Press Release | Fraudulent offering of pooled investment in cryptocurrencies, run as a Ponzi scheme. |
2020.01.21 🟥 F 🟧 ICO | SEC v. Grybniak, No. 1:20-cv-00327 (E.D.N.Y. 2020.01.21) – Press Release | Fraudulent ICO of OPP Tokens through misrepresentations about the business and tech, targeting small businesses. |
2020.01.17 🟥 F 🟧 ICO | SEC v. Manor, No. 2:20-cv-00597-SRC-CLW (D.N.J. 2020.01.17) – Press Release | Fraudulent ICO of BCT Tokens, purportedly to develop tech for hedge funds. |
2019.12.18 🟧 US | In re Blockchain of Things, Inc., No. 3-19621 (SEC Admin. Proc. 2019.12.18) – Press Release | Unregistered sale of BCOT tokens. |
2019.12.11 🟥 F 🟧 ICO | SEC v. Eyal, No. 1:19-cv-11325 (S.D.N.Y. 2019.12.11) – Press Release | Fraudulent, unregistered offering of Shopin tokens for purported creation of blockchain-based "universal shopper profile." |
2019.10.31 ⭕️ Other 🟫 UBD | In re XBT Corp Sarl, No. 3-19592 (SEC Admin. Proc. 2019.31) | Unregistered purchase and sale of security-based swaps, including purchases made with bitcoin, in violation of Securities Act § 5(e), and effecting transactions in those swaps outside of registered exchanges in violation of Exchange Act § 6(l). |
2019.10.11 🟧 ICO | SEC v. Telegram Group, Inc., No. 1:19-cv-09439 (S.D.N.Y. 2019.10.11) – Press Release – Preliminary Injunction granted at SEC v. Telegram Group, Inc., 448 F. Supp. 3d 352 (S.D.N.Y. 2020). | Preliminary injunction to prevent $1.7 billion token distribution. Settled for $1.2 billion return to investors and $18.5 million civil penalty. |
2019.09.30 🟧 US | In re Nebulous, Inc., No. 3-19569 (SEC Admin. Proc. 2019.09.30) | Unregistered sale of "Siastock" and "SiaNotes" to support development of a decentralized cloud data storage technology. |
2019.09.30 🟧 ICO | In re Block.one, No. 3-19568 (SEC Admin. Proc. 2019.09.30) – Press Release | Unregistered ICO to support development of EOSIO software, an operating system designed to support public or private blockchains. $24M penalty. |
2019.09.20 🟥 F 🟧 ICO | SEC v. Lucas, No. 1:19-cv-08771 (S.D.N.Y. 2019.09.20) – Press Release | Fraudulent ICO of FM tokens, purportedly for an adult entertainment "fantasy marketplace." |
2019.09.18 🟧 ICO 🟫 UBD | SEC v. ICOBox, No. 2:19-cv-08066 (C.D. Cal. 2019.09.18) – Press Release | Unregistered ICO of ICOS tokens to provide services to digital asset startups that could not afford them; unregistered broker-dealer activities for its clients' tokens. |
2019.08.29 🟥 F 🟧 ICO | SEC v. Bitqyck, Inc., No. 3:19-cv-02059 (N.D. Tex. 2019.08.29) – Press Release | Fraudulent, unregistered offering of Bitqy and BitqyM tokens. |
2019.08.20 🟩 AT | In re ICO Rating, No. 3-19366 (SEC Admin. Proc. 2019.08.20) – Press Release | ICO Rating purported to provide neutral evaluations of ICOs but in fact received, but failed to disclose, compensation as a promoter. |
2019.08.12 🟧 US | In re SimplyVital Health, Inc., No. 3-19332 (SEC Admin. Proc. 2019.08.12) – Press Release | Unregistered sale of securities to support development of Health Nexus, a blockchain protocol through which healthcare providers could share patient data. |
2019.08.12 🟥 F 🟧 ICO | SEC v. Middleton, No. 1:19-cv-04625-WFK-RER (E.D.N.Y. 2019.08.12) – Press Release | |
2019.06.05 🟥 F | SEC v. Longfin Corp., No. 1:19-cv-05296 (S.D.N.Y. 2019.06.05) – Press Release | Fraudulent pump-and-dump scheme effected by announcing acquisition of a sham cryptocurrency company, Ziddu.com. |
2019.06.04 🟧 ICO | SEC v. Kik Interactive Inc., No. 1:19-cv-05244 (S.D.N.Y. 2019.06.04) – Press Release – Summary judgment granted at SEC v. Kik Interactive Inc., 492 F. Supp. 3d 169 (S.D.N.Y. 2020) | Unregistered sales of Kin tokens, raising $100 million. Sales proceeds to be used to fund development of goods and services marketplace by Kik, an otherwise failing mobile messaging application. SEC prevails on summary judgment. The final judgment imposes restrictions on Kik's reserve allocation of tokens and includes a $5 million fine. |
2019.05.22 🟥 F 🟧 US | SEC v. Pacheco, No. 5:19-cv-00958-MWF-AFM (C.D. Cal. 2019.05.22) – Press Release | Fraudulent MLM pyramid scheme, in which investors were promised ability to convert recruitment points into the "PRO Currency," a cryptocurrency purportedly to be used in a new ecosystem of e-commerce transactions. Proceeds of sales misappropriated for personal use. |
2019.05.14 🟥 F | In re NextBlock Global Ltd., No. 3-19164 (SEC Admin. Proc. 2019.05.14) – Press Release | Fraudulent sale of convertible debentures in crypto investment company; misrepresentations about advisors to the company. |
2019.05.13 🟥 F 🟧 US | SEC v. Natural Diamonds Investment Co., No. 9:19-cv-80633 (S.D. Fla. 2019.05.13) – Press Release | Among other frauds, fraudulent, unregistered offering of Argyle Coin, a cryptocurrency purportedly backed by fancy diamonds. |
2019.04.29 ⭕️ Other | In re Bitcoin Generation, Inc., Release No. 85739 (Exchange Act 2019.04.29) | Trading halted in BTGN based on concerns about accuracy and adequacy of disclosures. |
2019.04.01 🟥 F 🟧 US | In re Mutual Coin Fund LLC, No. 3-19127 (SEC Admin. Proc. 2019.04.01) – | Unregistered sale of digital asset investment fund, including misrepresentations about the amount of money raised and the size of other investors' positions. |
2019.02.20 🟧 ICO | In re Gladius Network LLC, No. 3-19004 (SEC Admin. Proc. 2019.02.20) – Press Release | Unregistered offer and sale of GLA tokens for use in a network of cybersecurity services. Due to self-reporting and remedial measures, no penalty imposed. |
2018.12.07 🟧 US | In re CoinAlpha Advisors LLC, No. 3-18913 (SEC Admin. Proc. 2018.12.07) | Unregistered sale of investment fund focused on digital assets. |
2018.11.29 🟩 AT | In re Floyd Mayweather, Jr., No. 3-18906 (SEC Admin. Proc. 2018.11.29) – Press Release | Undisclosed payments received in exchange for promoting ICOs. |
2018.11.29 🟩 AT | In re Khaled Khaled (DJ Khaled), No. 3-18907 (SEC Admin. Proc. 2018.11.29) – Press Release | Undisclosed payments received in exchange for promoting ICOs. |
2018.11.16 🟧 ICO | In re Paragon Coin, Inc., No. 3-18897 (SEC Admin. Proc. 2018.11.16) – Press Release | Unregistered ICO of PRG tokens to implement Paragon's business plan to add blockchain technology to the cannabis industry and work towards legalization of cannabis. |
2018.11.16 🟧 ICO | In re CarrierEQ, Inc., No. 3-18898 (SEC Admin. Proc. 2018.11.16) – Press Release | Unregistered ICO of AirTokens to fund development of blockchain-based system for prepaid mobile phone users to earn free or discounted airtime or data by interacting with ads. |
2018.11.08 ⭕️ = Other | In re Zachary Coburn, No. 3-18888 (SEC Admin. Proc. 2018.11.08) – Press Release | Enforcement against creator of EtherDelta, a ERC20 and ETH exchange, for failing to register the exchange. $300k disgorgement, $75k penalty. |
2018.10.05 🟥 F ⭕️ = Other | SEC v. Saint James Holding and Investment Company Trust, No. 2:18-mc-00135-SJO-AS (C.D. Cal. 2018.10.05) | Application for order compelling responses to SEC investigation into fraudulent pump-and-dump scheme related to announcement of $100 million in financing obtained to fund an ICO. |
2018.10.03 🟥 F 🟧 US | SEC v. Blockvest, LLC, No. 3:18-cv-02287 (S.D. Cal. 2018.10.03) – Press Release | Emergency injunction action to stop anregistered, fraudulent ICO purporting to be the "first [U.S.] licensed and regulated tokenized crypto currency exchange and index fund." |
2018.09.27 🟫 UBD ⭕️ = Other | SEC v. 1Pool Ltd., No. 1:18-cv-02244 (D.D.C. 2018.09.27) – Press Release | Unregistered sales of securities swaps only buyable using bitcoin. |
2018.09.11 🟧 ICO ⭕️ = Other | In re Crypto Asset Management, LP, No. 3-18740 (SEC Admin. Proc. 2018.09.11) – Press Release | Unregistered sales of securities in the form of a digital asset investment fund; violations of the Investment Company Act. |
2018.09.11 🟫 UBD 🟧 US | In re TokenLot, LLC, No. 3-18739 (SEC Admin. Proc. 2018.09.11) – Press Release | SEC’s first case charging unregistered broker-dealers for selling digital tokens after the SEC issued The DAO Report in 2017 cautioning that those who offer and sell digital securities must comply with the federal securities laws. |
2018.08.14 🟥 F 🟧 ICO | In re Tomahawk Exploration, LLC, No. 3-18641 (SEC Admin. Proc. 2018.08.14) – Press Release | Fraudulent, unregistered ICO of TOM coins purportedly related to an oil and gas drilling venture. |
2018.05.22 🟥 F 🟧 ICO | SEC v. Titanium Blockchain Infrastructure Servs. Inc., No. 2:18-cv-04315 (C.D. Cal. 2018.05.22) – Press Release | Emergency injunction action to freeze $20+ million of proceeds in fraudulent ICO of BAR tokens; misrepresentations on backers and intellectual property, among others. |
2018.04.04 ⭕️ = Other | SEC. v. Longfin Corp., No. 1:18-cv-02977-DLC (S.D.N.Y. 2018.04.04) – Press Release 1, 2 | Emergency action to freeze $27 million in proceeds of pump-and-dump scheme based on purchase of a sham blockchain microfinance company Ziddu.com. |
2018.04.02 🟥 F 🟧 ICO | SEC v. Sharma, No. 1:18-cv-02909 (S.D.N.Y. 2018.04.02) – Press Release 1, 2 | Fraudulent, unregistered ICO of Center Tokens (CTR) based on misrepresentations about fictitious executives and relationships with Visa, Mastercard, and Bancorp. |
2018.02.21 🟥 F 🟧 US 🟪 CP ⭕️ = Other | SEC v. Montroll, No. 1:18-cv-01582 (S.D.N.Y. 2018.02.21) – Press Release | Fraudulent operation of an unregistered securities exchange (users paid in bitcoin), and unregistered sales of security investments in the exchange. |
2018.01.25 🟥 F 🟧 ICO 🟪 CP | SEC v. AriseBank, No. 3:18-cv-00186 (N.D. Tex. 2018.01.25) – Press Release | Emergency action to stop fraudulent ICO of the first "decentralized bank," including false representations about FDIC coverage, and appoint a receiver. The two officers settled, agreeing to pay ~$2.7 million in disgorgement and penalties and industry bars. |
2017.12.11 🟧 ICO | In re Munchee Inc., No. 3-18304 (SEC Admin. Proc. 2017.12.11) – Press Release | Unregistered ICO of MUN tokens that raised ~$15 million in capital; tokens would fuel ecosystem buying advertisements, writing reviews, selling food and conducting other transactions using MUN. |
2017.12.01 🟥 F 🟧 ICO 🟪 CP | SEC v. Plexcorps, No. 1:17-cv-07007 (E.D.N.Y. 2017.12.01) – Press Release | Fraudulent sale of PlexCoin, including promises of a 1,354% return in 29 days and misappropriation of funds. |
2017.09.29 🟥 F 🟧 ICO 🟪 CP | SEC v. Recoin Group Foundation, LLC, No. 1:17-cv-05725 (E.D.N.Y. 2017.09.29) – Press Release | Emergency action to halt fraudulent ICOs to fund purported conversions of fiat into digital currency backed by real estate or diamonds. |
2017.07.25 🟧 US | Report of Investigation Into The DAO, Exch. Act Release No. 81207 (SEC 2017.07.25) – Press Release – Statement by Divisions of Corporation Finance and Enforcement | Report concerning the application of the U.S. federal securities laws to the offer and sale of DAO Tokens, which were virtual tokens created and distributed on a blockchain by an entity called “The DAO.” No enforcement action taken but multiple warnings issued to industry participants. |
2017.06.30 🟥 F 🟫 UBD 🟪 CP | SEC v. Haddow, No. 1:17-cv-04950 (S.D.N.Y. 2017.06.30) – Press Release | Fraudulent sales of securities by an unregistered broker dealer, promising secure trading in bitcoin, but instead diverting 80%+ of funds raised. |
2016.07.11 ⭕️ = Other | In re Bitcoin Investment Trust, No. 3-17335 (SEC Admin. Proc. 2016.07.11) | Violations of Regulation M of the Exchange Act in connection with purchases and redemptions of shares of Bitcoin Investment Trust (BIT). |
2015.12.01 🟥 F 🟧 US | SEC v. Garza, No. 3:15-cv-01760 (D. Conn. 2015.12.01) – Press Release | Fraudulent sales of "Hashlets" securities that promised proceeds of bitcoin mining operation. Settled with nearly $10 million disgorgement. |
2015.06.17 ⭕️ = Other | In re Sand Hill Exchange, No. 3-16598 (SEC Admin. Proc. 2015.06.17) – Press Release | Unregistered securities swaps where accounts could be funded by dollars or bitcoins. |
2014.12.08 🟫 UBD ⭕️ = Other | In re BTC Trading, Corp, No. 3-16307 (SEC Admin. Proc. 2014.12.08) – Press Release | Unregistered securities exchanges / broker dealers that operated by receiving client funds through bitcoin and litecoin. |
2014.06.03 🟧 US | In re Voorhees, No. 3-15902 (SEC Admin. Proc. 2014.06.03) – Press Release | Unregistered sale of shares in two companies, SatoshiDICE and FeedZeBirds, which were sold in exchange for bitcoin. $50k combined disgorgement and penalty. |
2013.07.23 🟥 F 🟧 US | SEC v. Shavers, No. 4:13-cv-00416 (E.D. Tex. 2013.07.23) – Press Release | Bitcoin-denominated Ponzi scheme, raising more than 700,000 bitcoins in principal investments from BTCST investors, and falsely promising of up to 7% weekly returns based on BTCST’s purported bitcoin market arbitrage activity. |
CFTC
| Date | Name / Court / Docket Link | Notes |
|---|---|---|
2024.09.04 🟩 OET | In re Universal Navigation Inc. d/b/a Uniswap Labs, No. 24-25 (Admin. Proc. 2024.09.04) – Press Release – Dissent of Comm. Mersinger – Dissent of Comm. Pham | Settled charges against Uniswap for offering certain margined/leveraged transactions in ETH and BTC that did not result in actual delivery within 28 days, a violation of the requirement that such transactions occur only board of trade that has been designated or registered by the CFTC as a contract market. |
2024.05.13 🟫 UR | In re Falcon Labs Ltd., No. 24-06 (Admin. Proc. 2024.05.13) – Press Release | Settled charges against prime brokerage firm for failing to register with the CFTC as a futures commission merchant (FCM). Falcon Labs functioned as an intermediary that facilitated U.S.-based persons in trading on digital asset exchanges, but did not provide the digital asset exchanges with any customer-identifying information for its customers who traded on the exchanges. This marks the CFTC's first action against an unregistered FCM that inappropriately facilitated access to digital asset exchanges. |
2023.03.26 🟩 OET 🟫 UR 🟧 KYC | CFTC v. MEK Global Ltd. d/b/a KuCoin, No. 1:24-cv-02255 (S.D.N.Y. 2024.03.26) – Press Release | Charges KuCoin illegally dealt in off-exchange commodity futures transactions and leveraged, margined, or financed retail commodity transactions; solicited and accepted orders for commodity futures, swaps, and leveraged, margined, or financed retail commodity transactions without registering with the CFTC as a futures commission merchant (FCM); failed to diligently supervise its FCM activities; operated a facility for the trading or processing of swaps without registering with the CFTC as a swap execution facility (SEF) or designated contract market (DCM); and failed to implement an effective customer identification program (CIP). |
2023.01.17 🟥 F | CFTC v. Debiex, No. 2:24-cv-00117-DLR (D. Ariz. 2024.01.17) – Press Release – Statement of Kristin N. Johnson | Debiex used popular romance scam tactics to fraudulently misappropriate $2.3 million in customer funds intended for digital asset commodity trading. The complaint also names someone who may have acted as a money mule as a defendant. Debiex misappropriated the customers’ digital assets. The Debiex websites merely mimicked the features of a legitimate live trading platform and the “trading accounts” on the websites were a complete ruse. |
2023.10.12 🟥 F 🟫 UR | CFTC v. Ehrlich, No. 1:23-cv-08962 (S.D.N.Y. 2023.10.12) – Press Release | Action against former CEO of Voyager. Complaint alleges Ehrlich and Voyager engaged in a scheme to defraud customers by misrepresenting the safety and financial health of the Voyager digital asset platform. Ehrlich and Voyager, via publicly available postings on social media and their website, touted Voyager as a “safe haven” for customers’ digital assets in an otherwise volatile market environment and that Voyager would operate with the “same level of rigor and trust” as a traditional financial institution. There is a related action by the FTC against Ehrlich and Voyager. |
2023.09.23 🟥 F 🟫 UR | CFTC v. Technical Trading Team, LLC, No. 1:23-cv-07296 (E.D.N.Y. 2023.09.29) | Fraudulently soliciting over $5 million for participation in a foreign currency (forex) commodity pool scheme, based on their proprietary AI algorithms and experience trading digital assets (among others). The defendants lost over $3.13 million trading forex on a leveraged basis, misappropriated funds for personal use, and used new participants’ funds to pay interest to existing participants. |
2023.09.29 🟥 F | CFTC v. Patreanu, No. 2:23-cv-20782 (D.N.J. 2023.09.29) – Press Release | Action against four international individuals fraudulently soliciting, under a variety of trade names, including most prominently Cryptobravos, duping investors to send money that the charged individuals would purportedly use to trade bitcoin and other digital assets, generate risk-free returns for its customers, on the premise that customers could withdraw their funds at any time. The representations were a fraud. |
2023.09.26 🟥 F 🟫 UR | In re... – altux-fx-miner, No. 23-52 – AstroFXMinners, No. 23-49 – Avadigital-Miners.com, No. 23-50 – Globalbitasset, No. 23-48 – Gold Life Investment, No. 23-51 – Matchlessfxminer, No. 23-47 – PrimeCapitalTrade, No. 23-53 – Trading-Extramining, No. 23-54 – Press Release – Dissenting Statement of Caroline Pham | Simultaneous administrative actions against eight entities for fraudulently claiming to be CFTC-registered FCMs and RFEDs when they were not, while offering trading including digital assets (among others). All entities claimed to have the same National Futures Association identification number. |
2023.09.26 🟥 F 🟫 UR | CFTC v. Wonsey, No. 8:23-cv-2174 (M.D. Fla. 2023.09.26) – Press Release | Wonsey solicited and pooled over $3.4 million from at least 50 pool participants for the purported purpose of trading retail forex, binary options, metals and digital assets. Instead of trading pool participant funds as promised, Wonsey misappropriated the funds for his personal benefit and to pay other pool participants in the manner of a Ponzi scheme. |
2023.09.26 🟥 F | CFTC v. Mosaic Exchange Ltd., No. 9:23-cv-81320-AMC (S.D. Fla. 2023.09.26) – Press Release – Statement of Commissioner Johnson | Fraudulent solicitation of cash and bitcoin from investors on promises of outsize returns through purportedly novel trading methods. The whole operation was a sham. |
2023.09.08 🟥 F | In re Orvidas, No. 23-43 (Admin. Proc. 2023.09.08) – Press Release – Statement of Christy Goldsmith Romero | Orvidas fraudulently solicited at least four people (pool participants) to trade leveraged bitcoin in a commodity pool, lost almost all funds trading, and then lied to pool participants about the losses and the availability of their money. $2 million in restitution and a $500,000 civil monetary penalty. |
2023.09.07 🟫 UR 🟧 KYC | In re Deridex, Inc., No. 23-42 (Admin. Proc. 2023.09.07) In re ZeroEx, Inc., No. 23-41 (Admin Proc. 2023.09.07) In re Opyn, Inc., No. 23-40 (Admin. Proc. 2023.09.07) – Press Release – Statement of Kristin N. Johnson – Dissenting statement of Summer K. Mersinger | Settlements with Deridex & Opyn protocol developers for acting as unregistered swap execution facilities, designated contract markets, futures commission merchants, and failing to implement BSA-compliant KYC controls. Settlement with all three for illegally offering leveraged and margined retail commodity transactions in digital assets. $100k, $200k, and $250k civil penalties respectively. |
2023.08.28 🟥 F 🟫 UR 🟩 OET | CFTC v. Traders Global Group Inc., No. 1:23-cv-11808 (D.N.J. 2023.08.28) – Press Release | Fraudulent trading offered to retail participants in leveraged digital assets, among others. The scam told customers they were trading against liquidity providers, but in reality TGG was the counterparty and actively worked to minimize profitable trades from its customers. |
2023.07.31 🟥 F | CFTC v. Larralde, No. 6:23-cv-01445-WWB-DCI (M.D. Fla. 2023.07.31) – Press Release | Defendants solicited participants with claims that Fundsz has historically produced over 3% returns per week using a “proprietary algorithm” for trading cryptocurrencies and precious metals. But in reality Fundsz does not trade customer funds at all, and any customer gains are illusory, as the defendants simply make up fictional weekly returns to report to customers. |
2023.07.24 🟥 F | CFTC v. Griffis, No. 3:23-cv-00741 (M.D. Tenn. 2023.07.24) – Press Release | Fraudulent commodity pool scheme where defendants promised victims a safe investment in digital asset futures contracts with huge profit potential. The victims were customers of the defendants' real estate business who invested in the "Blessings of God Thru Crypto" commodity pool. The defendants misappropriated or lost most of the funds. |
2023.07.13 🟥 F 🟪 CP 🟫 UR | CFTC v. Celsius Network, LLC, No. 1:23-cv-06008 (S.D.N.Y. 2023.07.13) | Parallel enforcement action with SEC, DOJ, and FTC. Celsius along with former CEO Alexander Mashinsky, charged with fraud and failure to register as a commodity pool operator in connection with the company's crypto token, CEL. |
2023.06.22 🟥 F | CFTC v. Zhu, No. 2:23-cv-04937 (C.D. Cal. 2023.06.22) – Press Release – Statement of Commissioner Kristin N. Johnson – Press Release (default judgment) (2023.12.20) | Fraudulent misappropriation of over $1.3 million in customer funds intended for digital asset commodity and forex trading. This is CFTC’s first case involving a romance scam, commonly known as “Pig Butchering,” a type of fraud that is growing in popularity. A parallel criminal action was commenced in April 2023. |
2023.06.22 🟥 F 🟫 UR | CFTC v. Ichioka, No. 3:23-cv-03095 (N.D. Cal. 2023.06.22) – Press Release | Parallel enforcement action with DOJ and SEC. Fraud and unregistered commodity pool operator charges over crypto-based scheme "Ichioka Ventures." Falsely promised 10% monthly returns, defrauding 100+ people of tens of millions. Used funds for luxury items, personal expenses, and repaying older investors. |
2023.06.06 🟥 F | CFTC v. Levine, No. 23-31 (Admin. Proc. 2023.06.06) CFTC v. Reichenthal, No. 23-30 (Admin. Proc. 2023.06.06) – Press Release – Statement of Kristin N. Johnson | Settled charges against perpetrators of fraudulent scheme that convinced victims to send over $5 million to defendants to buy bitcoin. Defendants failed to deliver the bitcoin or return investor funds. |
2023.05.24 🟥 F | CFTC v. Carmona, No. 2:23-cv-04015 (C.D. Cal. 2023.05.24) – Press Release | Defendants fraudulently solicited hundreds of thousands of dollars from more than 170 individuals in the U.S. and other countries for Icomtech to supposedly trade bitcoin and other digital asset commodities for them, and for misappropriating customer funds. |
2023.04.24 🟥 F | CFTC v. Systematic Alpha Management, LLC, No. 1:23-cv-21527-RNS (S.D. Fla. 2023.04.24) – Press Release | Fraudulent allocation of trades by commodity pool operator, including misrepresentations regarding the nature of trades in the cryptocurrency futures pool. |
2023.04.21 🟥 F | In re... – Betatradeoptions.com, No. 23-10 – Bitfinmarket.com, No. 23-13 – Bit Block FXtrades, No. 23-12 – Bit Trading, No. 23-11 – Cross Trade FX, No. 23-14 – Fast Option Subdivision, No. 23-15 – Garantitrademiness.com, No. 23-16 – Garantitrademinex.net, No. 23-17 – Instantearners247.com, No. 23-18 – Prime Finance Network, No. 23-19 – Sparkleswhite.com, No. 23-20 – TFX Trading, No. 23-21 – Trust Pay Market, No. 23-22 – Voltfxtrade, No. 23-23 – Press Release | Simultaneous charges against 14 entities for fraudulently claiming to be registered with the CFTC as futures commission merchants and retail foreign exchange dealers. Each entity offered customers trading in digital assets and forex. |
2023.04.11 🟦 MM | CFTC v. Russell, No. 1:23-cv-02691 (E.D.N.Y. 2023.04.11) | Solicitation of retail investors to contribute bitcoin, ether, and dollars in digital assets trading fund, guaranteeing no losses to investors and, in some instances, a minimum 25% return on investment. Misappropriation of $1 million of investor funds. |
2023.03.27 🟩 OET 🟥 F 🟪 CP 🟫 UR 🟧 KYC ⭕️ Other | CFTC v. Zhao, Binance Holdings Ltd., No. 1:23-cv-01887 (N.D. Ill. 2023.03.27) – Press Release – Press Release (consent order - Lim) – Press Release (consent order - CZ + Binance) (2023.12.18) | Action against founder of Binance, its chief compliance officer, and Binance itself for conducting off-exchange futures transactions, failing to register, inadequate KYC/AML program, and evading US regulations. Settled by consent with CZ to pay $150 million and Binance to pay $2.7 billion; Lim to pay $1.5 million. |
2023.02.28 🟥 F | CFTC v. Singh, No. 1:23-cv-01684 (S.D.N.Y. 2023.02.28) – Press Release | Complaint and consent order against senior FTX executive for committing and aiding in fraud that led to the exchange's downfall. |
2023.02.15 🟦 MM | CFTC v. Temurian, No. 1:23-cv-01235 (E.D.N.Y. 2023.02.15) – Press Release | Fraudulent solicitation and misappropriation of customer digital assets, including bitcoin and ether. |
2023.01.09 🟦 MM | CFTC v. Eisenberg, No. 1:23-cv-00173 (S.D.N.Y. 2023.01.09) – Press Release | Market manipulation of Mango Markets and its tokens. |
2022.12.13 🟥 F 🟦 MM | CFTC v. Bankman-Fried, No. 1:22-cv-10503 (S.D.N.Y. 2022.12.13) – Press Release – Press Release (consent orders as to Caroline Ellison and Gary Wang) | Fraud by FTX and its founder Sam Bankman-Fried against purchasers of digital commodities, causing over $8 billion in losses, and misappropriation of customer funds. |
2022.11.03 🟦 MM | In re Jeremy Rounsville, No. 23-02 (CFTC Admin. Proc. 2022.11.03) | Solicitation of funds in digital assets based on fraudulent misrepresentations about Rounsville's position and access to a 'highly advanced arbitrage bot.' |
2022.09.30 🟫 UR 🟦 MM 🟧 KYC | CFTC v. Todd, No. 1:22-cv-23174 (S.D. Fla. 2022.09.30) – Press Release – Statement of Kristin N. Johnson – Press Release (2023.07.12 - default judgment) | Action against Digitex exchange and its founder for operating an unregistered futures exchange and failing to register as an FCM, KYC failures, and manipulation of the price of DGTX. Over $15 million in disgorgement and penalties ordered in default judgment. |
2022.09.22 🟩 OET 🟫 UR 🟧 KYC | CFTC v. Ooki DAO, No. 3:22-cv-5416 (N.D. Cal. 2022.09.22) – Press Release – Press Release (Order on alternative service, default judgment) (2023.06.09) In re bZeroX, LLC, No. 22-31 (CFTC Admin. Proc. 2022.09.22) – Dissenting Statement of Summer K. Mersinger | First impression case against a DAO. Significant issues regarding service and liability of DAO members. Substantively, the Ooki DAO offered off-exchange transactions without registering as a DCM or FCM and failing to implement KYC procedures. |
2022.08.11 🟦 MM | CFTC v. Giri, No. 2:22-cv-03091 (S.D. Ohio 2022.08.11) – Press Release – Statement of Kristin N. Johnson | Fraudulent scheme soliciting $12 million and 10 bitcoin to invest in a digital asset trading fund. Funds misappropriated for luxury lifestyle purchases. |
2022.06.30 🟥 F 🟫 UR | CFTC v. Mirror Trading Int'l Proprietary Ltd., No. 1:22-cv-00635 (W.D. Tex. 2022.06.30) – Press Release – Press Release (entry of default judgment) (2023.04.27) – Press Release (consent order by MTI) (2023.09.07) | Unregistered, fraudulent commodity pool operator defrauded US investors of $1.7B worth of bitcoin. |
2022.06.30 🟥 F 🟦 MM 🟫 UR | CFTC v. Pires, No. 1:22-cv-21997 (S.D. Fla. 2022.06.30) – Press Release – Press Release (Consent Order) | Fraudulent solicitation and pooling of $41.6 million d/b/a EmpiresX, misappropriation of funds. Failure to register as a CPO / associated person of a CPO. |
2022.06.02 🟥 F | CFTC v. Gemini Trust Co., LLC, No. 1:22-cv-04563 (S.D.N.Y. 2022.06.02) – Press Release | False or misleading statements of material facts or omitting to state material facts in connection with the self-certification of a bitcoin futures product. |
2022.05.10 🟥 F 🟫 UR 🟦 MM | CFTC v. Ikkurty, No. 1:22-cv-02465 (N.D. Ill. 2022.05.10) – Press Release | Fraudulent solicitation of $44 million for participation interests in a fund invested in digital assets. |
2022.01.03 🟩 OET 🟫 UR | In re Blockratize, Inc. d/b/a Polymarket.com, No. 22-09 (CFTC Admin. Proc. 2022.01.03) – Press Release | Unregistered, off-exchange marketplace for the online trading of event-based binary options contracts (known as "event markets"); failure to register as a SEF / DCM. |
2021.10.15 🟦 MM | In re Tether Holdings Ltd., No. 22-04 (CFTC Admin. Proc. 2021.10.15) – Press Release – Concurring Statement of Dawn D. Stump | False or misleading statements regarding the reserves held by Tether, including the entity holding such reserves and what types of assets they were. |
2021.10.15 🟩 OET 🟫 UR | In re iFinex Inc. d/b/a Bitfinex, No. 22-05 (CFTC Admin. Proc. 2021.10.15) – Press Release – Concurring Statement of Dawn D. Stump | Failure to register as an FCM while also conducting off-exchange futures transactions in digital assets including bitcoin, ether, and tether tokens with non-ECPs or eligible commercial entities. |
2021.09.30 🟥 F 🟦 MM | CFTC v. Inyangudo, No. 1:21-cv-11615 (D. Mass. 2021.09.30) – Press Release | Fraudulent solicitation and appropriation of $1.2 million through Primefx.org for purported trading in foreign currency and bitcoin. |
2021.09.29 🟫 UR 🟦 MM | In re ... – TradingForexPay, No. 21-32 – Cryptofxtrader, No. 21-23 – Bitfxprofit, No. 21-22 – Globalnationfx, No. 21-25 – BinanceFxTrade, No. 21-21 – MaxForexOption, No. 21-26 – ProCryptoMinners, No. 21-28 – ProFx-Capitals, No. 21-29 – Smarter Signals, No. 21-30 – Prime Expert Trade, No. 21-27 – Star Fx Pro, No. 21-31 – Excotradeoptions, No. 21-24 – Climax Capital FX, No. 21-33 – Digitalexchange24.com, No. 21-34 – Press Release | Coordinated administrative enforcement actions against 14 entities for either failing to register as futures commission merchants (FCMs) or else making false and misleading claims of having CFTC registration and National Futures Association (NFA) membership. |
2021.09.28 🟩 OET 🟫 UR | In re Payward Ventures, Inc. (d/b/a Kraken), No. 21-20 (CFTC Admin. Proc. 2021.09.28) – Press Release – Concurring Statement of Dawn D. Stump | Offering off-exchange retail commodity transactions (specifically, margined transactions) with U.S. customers who were not eligible contract pariticpants or eligible commercial entities, and failing to register as a futures commission merchant (FCM). |
2021.09.28 🟥 F 🟦 MM | CFTC v. Tinoco, No. 3:21-cv-00237-DCG (W.D. Tex. 2021.09.28) – Press Release (2022.03.29) | Fraudulent solicitation of $7.2 million for crypto and foreign exchange investment fund. |
2021.04.19 🟦 MM | In re J Squared Invest LLC, No. 21-06 (CFTC Admin. Proc. 2021.04.19) – Press Release | Making misleading statements or omitting material facts in connection with soliciting more than $300,000 from over 40 individuals to invest in digital assets. |
2021.03.05 🟦 MM | CFTC v. McAfee, No. 1:21-cv-01919 (S.D.N.Y. 2021.03.05) – Press Release (2021.03.05) – Press Release (2022.07.18) | Pump-and-dump scheme involving verge, reddcoin, and dogecoin. |
2021.01.26 🟦 MM | CFTC v. Spence, No. 1:21-cv-00699 (S.D.N.Y. 2021.01.26) – Press Release | Ponzi scheme involving bitcoin and ether, $5 million. |
2020.10.01 🟩 OET 🟧 KYC 🟫 UR | CFTC v. HDR Global Trading Ltd., No. 1:20-cv-08132 (S.D.N.Y. 2020.10.01) – Press Release (2020.10.01) – Press Release (2021.08.10) – Concurring Statement of Dan M. Berkovitz (2021.08.10) | Action against owners of BitMEX, a crypto derivatives platform for BitMEX's actions in: illegally offering leveraged retail futures, options, and swap; failing to register as an FCM; failing to register as a swap execution facility (SEF) or designated contract market (DCM). $100 million civil monetary penalty by consent order. |
2020.09.24 🟩 OET 🟫 UR | CFTC v. Laino Group Ltd. d/b/a PaxForex, No. 4:20-cv-03317 (S.D. Tex. 2020.09.24) – Press Release (2020.09.28) – Press Release (2021.07.09) | Engaging in illegal, off-exchange transactions in Ether, Litecoin and Bitcoin, with retail customers on a leveraged, margined, or financed basis and acting as a futures commission merchant (FCM) without registration. Default judgment entered. |
2020.09.11 🟦 MM | CFTC v. Garcia, No. 4:20-cv-03185 (S.D. Tex. 2020.09.14) – Press Release (2020.09.14) – Press Release (2021.08.10) | Fraudulent solicitation of funds from customers to speculate in bitcoin price movements. Settled by $1.75 million consent order. |
2020.08.28 🟥 F 🟦 MM 🟫 UR | CFTC v. Jali, No. 8:20-cv-02492-GJH (D. Md. 2020.08.28) – Press Release | Fraud and failure to register as a commodity pool operator, raised $28 million to trade forex and bitcoin. Misappropriated funds. |
2020.07.13 🟩 OET 🟫 UR | In re Plutus Financial, Inc. d/b/a Abra, No. 20-23 (CFTC Admin. Proc. 2020.07.13) – Press Release – Supporting Statement of Dan M. Berkovitz | Entering into off-exchange swaps with U.S. and overseas customers and failing to register as a futures commission merchant (FCM). |
2020.05.05 🟥 F 🟦 MM | CFTC v. Fingerhut, No. 1:20-cv-21887 (S.D. Fla. 2020.05.05) – Press Release (2020.05.07) – Press Release (2021.11.17) | Fraudulent solicitation of tens of millions of customers to open and fund off-exchange binary options and digital assets trading accounts. |
2020.04.16 🟥 F 🟦 MM | CFTC v. Fintech Investment Group, Inc., No. 6:20-cv-00652 (M.D. Fla. 2020.04.16) – Press Release | Fraudulent solicitation of $1.6 million to purchase Compcoin through a leveraged or margined forex scheme. |
2020.02.14 🟥 F 🟦 MM 🟫 UR | CFTC v. Venture Capital Investments Ltd., No. 1:20-cv-00382 (D. Colo. 2020.02.14) – Press Release (2020.11.04) – Press Release (2020.02.14) | Fraudulent, unregistered commodity pool of digital assets. Final judgment of $450,000 restitution and $450,000 civil penalty. |
2020.02.11 🟦 MM | CFTC v. Ackerman, No. 1:20-cv-01183 (S.D.N.Y. 2020.02.11) – Press Release – Press Release (2023.06.28 - default judgment) | Fraudulently soliciting over $33 million to purportedly trade digital assets and misappropriating a substantial portion of that total. |
2019.10.31 🟫 UR | In re XBT Corp. SARL d/b/a First Global Credit, No. 20-04 (CFTC Admin. Proc. 2019.10.31) – Press Release | While running firstglobalcredit.com and claiming to provide "mainstream market access" for digital currency traders, accepted purchase/sale orders for commidity futures and accepted bitcoin to margin customer trades without registering as an FCM. |
2019.09.30 🟥 F 🟫 UR ⭕️ Other | CFTC v. Saffron, No. 2:19-cv-01697-JAD-DJA (D. Nev. 2019.09.30) – Press Release (2021.04.08) – Press Release (2019.10.16) | Fraudulent solicitation of $11 million worth of bitcoin to trade in foreign currency and other digital assets. Funds misappropriated. Final judgment orders $14 million restitution, $15 million disgorgement, and $1.4 million civil penalty. |
2019.09.30 🟦 MM | CFTC v. Thompson, No. 1:19-cv-09052 (S.D.N.Y. 2019.09.30) – Press Release (2020.10.02) – Press Release (2019.09.30) | Fraud in connection with the purported purchase of bitcoin worth over $7 million. Consent judgment for restitution of $7.4 million. |
2019.06.17 🟦 MM | CFTC v. Control-Finance Ltd., No. 1:19-cv-05631 (S.D.N.Y. 2019.06.17) – Press Release (2021.03.26) – Press Release (2019.06.18) | Fraudulent scheme to solicit bitcoin from members of the public and misappropriated customers’ bitcoin. Default judgment orders $143 million restitution and $429 million civil penalty. |
2018.10.29 🟦 MM | In re Kim, No. 19-02 (CFTC Admin. Proc. 2018.10.29) – Press Release | Fraudulent misappropriation from Kim's employer of Litecoin and Bitcoin, followed by fraudulent solicitation of funds from individuals. $1.1 million restitution ordered. |
2018.09.28 🟥 F 🟦 MM | CFTC v. Doe 1, No. 4:18-cv-00807-O (N.D. Tex. 2018.09.28) – Press Release | Forex fraud and fraud by a commodity pool operator, using deceptive scheme to solicit bitcoin from the public to invest in leveraged trading products like foreign currency contracts, binary options, and diamonds. |
2018.09.27 🟩 OET 🟫 UR 🟧 KYC | CFTC v. 1Pool Ltd., No. 1:18-cv-02243 (D.D.C. 2018.09.27) – Press Release | Offering retail commodity transactions, failing to register as an FCM, and accepting bitcoin to margin trades. |
2018.04.16 🟩 OET 🟫 UR 🟥 F 🟦 MM | CFTC v. Kantor, No. 2:18-cv-02247-SJF-ARL (E.D.N.Y. 2018.04.16) – Press Release | Fraudulent, off-exchange, unregistered trading of binary options, misappropriating customer funds and offering them instead "ATM Coin," a bogus virtual currency. |
2018.01.18 🟥 F 🟫 UR | CFTC v. Dean, No. 2:18-cv-00345-SJF-AYS (E.D.N.Y. 2018.01.18) – Press Release | Fraudulent solicitation of bitcoin in an investment pool for binary options; misappropriated funds; failure to register a CPO. Default judgment orders over $432,000 in restitution and $1.5 million civil penalty. |
2018.01.18 🟦 MM | CFTC v. McDonnell, No. 1:18-cv-00361 (E.D.N.Y. 2018.01.18) – Press Release (2018.08.24) – Press Release (2018.03.06) – Press Release (2018.01.19) – Holding on virtual currencies as commodities at CFTC v. McDonnell, 287 F. Supp. 3d 213, 228–30 (E.D.N.Y. 2018) | |
2018.01.16 🟦 MM | CFTC v. My Big Coin Pay, Inc., No. 1:18-cv-10077 (D. Mass. 2018.01.16) – Press Release – Holding on virtual currencies as commodities at CFTC v. My Big Coin Pay, Inc., 334 F. Supp. 3d 492 (D. Mass 2018) | Fraudulent misappropriation and solicitation for the virtual currency MBC. One of the first cases to hold virtual currencies are commodities and therefore subject to CFTC enforcement authority. |
2017.09.21 🟦 MM | CFTC v. Gelfman Blueprint, Inc., No. 1:17-cv-07181 (S.D.N.Y. 2017.09.21) – Press Release (2018.10.18) – Press Release (2017.09.21) | Bitcoin Ponzi scheme, fraudulent solicitation of $600,000 of bitcoin, falsified reports and account statements. Final judgment orders $1 million in restitution and $2 million in civil penalties. |
2016.06.02 🟩 OET 🟫 UR | In re BFNXA Inc., d/b/a Bitfinex, No. 16-19 (CFTC Admin. Proc. 2016.06.02) – Press Release | Failure to register as an FCM and permitting off-exchange transactions, namely permitting users to borrow funds from one another in order to trade bitcoins on a leveraged, margined, or financed basis. |
2015.09.24 ⭕️ Other | In re TeraExchange LLC, No. 15-33 (CFTC Admin. Proc. 2015.09.24) – Press Release – Dissenting Statement by Sharon Y. Bowen | Despite provisional registration as a swap execution facility (SEF), failure to prohibit wash trading in bitcoin — and in fact facilitating it. |
2015.09.17 🟩 OET 🟫 UR 🟪 CP | In re Coinflip, Inc., No. 15-29 (CFTC Admin. Proc. 2015.09.17) – Press Release | Violations of regulations regarding commodity options and operating a swap facility without registration, done by offering to connect buyers and sellers of bitcoin option contracts. D/B/A Derivabit. |
DOJ / Criminal
Special thanks to Adam Snyder, a White-collar defense attorney and crypto litigator for his able assistance in updating this section. You can reach Adam through his firm or Warpcast.
| Date / Type | Name / Court / Docket Link | Notes |
|---|---|---|
2024.08.22 🟦 ML | United States v. Bond, No. 1:24-cr-00494 (S.D.N.Y. Aug. 22, 2024) – Press Release | Unlawful campaign contribution charges against a former candidiate for the U.S. House of Representatives alleged to have accepted $400,000 in sham donations from a "now-defunct cryptocurrency exchange." According to the indictment, the defendant misrepresented that the donated funds were compensation for consulting services after they were spent to fund the defendant's failed primary campaign. |
2024.07.26 🟥 F | United States v. Al-Naji, No. 1:24-mj-02721 (S.D.N.Y. July 26, 2024) – Press Release | Fraud action against founder of BitClout, touted as a crossover between financial and social media apps, where users could trade BitClout tokens based on other users' profiles. Despite claiming no control over funds raised, Al-Naji in fact maintained control and used investor funds for personal expenses and gifts to family members. |
2024.05.17 🟥 F | United States v. Sfraga, No. 1:24-cr-00194 (E.D.N.Y May 10, 2024) – Press Release | Crypto influencer Thomas John Sfraga ("TJ Stone") pleaded guilty to wire fraud in connection with funds he obtained by promising victims massive returns for investment in non-existant business ventures. When sentenced, Sfraga faces a maximum sentence of 20 years’ imprisonment, as well as restitution of over $1.33 million. |
2024.05.15 🟥 F 🟦 ML 🟧 FF | United States v. Peraire-Bueno, No. 1:24-cr-00293 (S.D.N.Y. 05.15.24) – Press Release | Wire fraud and money laundering charges against two brothers alleged to have exploited a flaw in mev-boost to extract $25 million from MEV traders. According to the indictment, the defendants used an invalid signature to prematurely review a potential block built by mev-boost, and used that information to propose a different block designed to drain liquidity from the MEV traders. |
2024.03.21 🟦 ML | United States v. Flashdot Limited, No. 1:24-00168-ALC (S.D.N.Y. 2024.03.21) – Press Release | Conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money transmitting business and conspiracy to violate the Bank Secrecy Act charges against crypto exchange KuCoin and two of its founders. |
2024.02.15 🟩 Tax | United States v. Roger Keith Ver, No. 2:24-cr-00103-MWF (C.D. Cal. 2024.02.15) – Press Release | Tax evasion and mail fraud charges against early bitcoin investor and promoter Rodger Keith Ver. The indictment alleges that Ver concealed $240 million in cash obtained from selling approximately 70,000 bitcoin, causing a $48 million loss to the IRS. |
2024.02.14 🟦 ML | United States v. Rodriguez and Hill, No. 1:24-cr-00082-RMB (S.D.N.Y. 2024.02.14) – Press Release | Conspiracy to commit money laundering and conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money transmitting business charges against the founders and developers of Samourai Wallet—a non-custodial bitcoin wallet that offered financial privacy to users through coin mixing. |
2024.02.06 🟩 Tax | United States v. Ahlgren, No. 1:24-cr-00031-RP (W.D. Tex. 2024.02.06) | Charges for filing false tax returns and structuring deposits to evade currency transaction reporting requirements against Frank Ahlgren. The indictment alleges Ahlgren filed a tax return that the purchase price of bitcoin he later sold for $4 million, thereby underreporting to the IRS his capital gain on the sale. |
2024.01.29 🟥 F | United States v. Lee, No. 1:24-cr-00021-RDB (D. Md. 2024.01.25) United States v. Burton, No. 1:23-mj-03185-CDA (D. Md. 2024.01.08) United States v. Chunga, No. 1:24-cr-00001 (D. Md. 2024.01.09) –Press Release | Fraud charges against the founders of Hyperfund. According to the indictment, the defendants defrauded investors of $1.89 billion by falsely representing that investors would receive substantial returns from cryptocurrency mining operations, which did not in fact exist. |
2023.11.14 🟦 ML | United States v. Binance Holdings Limited, No. 2:23-cr-00178-RAJ (W.D. Wash. 2023.11.14) United States v. Zhao, No. 2:23-00179-RAJ (W.D.Wash. 2023.11.14) –Press Release | Binance and Changpeng Zhao ("CZ") pled guilty to resolve investigations into violations of the Bank Secrecy Act, failure to register as a money transmitting business and sanctions violations. Binance agreed to pay a fine of $4 billion and CZ was ultimately sentenced to four months in federal prison. |
2023.10.31 🟥 F 🟦 ML | United States v. Karony, No. 1:23-cr-00433 (E.D.N.Y. 2023.10.31) – Press Release | Wire fraud, securities fraud, and money laundering charges against executives of SafeMoon LLC related to the SFM token. Defendants lied to investors about SFM being inaccessible to defendants, while fraudulently diverting and misappropriating millions of dollars' worth of purportedly "locked" SFM liquidity. |
2023.08.22 🟥 F 🟦 ML | United States v. DeSalvo, No. 2:23-mj-11153 (D.N.J. 2023.08.22) | Wire fraud, securities fraud, and money laundering charges based on fraudulent fundraising by DeSalvo, which included a cryptocurrency scheme that resulted in losses of more than $600,000. The crypto scheme targeted law enforcement and first responders to invest in a digital token, Blazar, that he falsely claimed was SEC-approved and listed on cryptocurrency exchanges. Related enforcement action by SEC brought simultaneously. |
2023.08.21 🟦 ML | United States v. Storm, No. 1:23-cr-00430 (S.D.N.Y. 2023.08.21) – Press Release | Criminal indictment against founders/developers of Tornado Cash, a privacy preserving cryptocurrency mixer allegedly used by North Korea and other criminal organizations to launder more than $1 billion in stolen funds. Charges include conspiracy to commit money laundering and conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money transmitting business (MSB). |
2023.07.31 ⭕️ Other | United States v. Seemungal, No. 1:23-cr-00260 (M.D.N.C. 07.31.23) – Press Release | Federal jury convicted the leader of a criminal conspiracy targeting cryptocurrency users with a series of home invasions, kidnappings, and robberies. The attacks involved threats made at gunpoint forcing victims to provide access to cryptocurrency accounts, which were immediately drained by co-conspirators. |
2023.07.11 🟥 F 🟦 ML | United States v. Mashinsky, No. 1:23-cr-00347 (S.D.N.Y. 2023.07.11) – Press Release | Parallel enforcement action with SEC, CFTC, and FTC. Former CEO and ex CRO of Celsius, Alexander Mashinsky and Roni Cohen-Pavon, charged with securities fraud, commodities fraud, wire fraud, and market manipulation for defrauding customers and manipulating the company's crypto token, CEL. |
2023.07.10 🟥 F 🟦 ML | United States v. Ahmed, No. 1:23-cr-00340 (S.D.N.Y. 2023.07.10) – Press Release | Fraud against Solana-based decentralized finance (DeFi) exchange, The Crypto Exchange, by senior security engineer who exploited the exchange's smart contracts and inserted fake pricing data to fraudulently cause that smart contract to generate approximately $9 million dollars’ worth of inflated fees. |
2023.07.10 🟥 F ⭕️ Other 🟧 FF | United States v. Oulahyane, No. 1:23-cr-00215 (S.D.N.Y. 2023.07.10) – Press Release | Wire fraud, CFAA, identity theft, and forfeiture charges based on operation of a spoofed OpenSea website to gain unauthorized access to victims’ cryptocurrency wallets to steal their cryptocurrency and NFTs. |
2023.06.30 🟥 F 🟦 ML | United States v. Austin, No. 1:23-cr-00508 (S.D.N.Y. 2023.06.30) – Press Release | Fraudulent scheme to to steal money from investors and other victims by offering a variety of fraudulent cryptocurrency-related investment services, including sales of multimillion-dollar batches of cryptocurrency, marketing and advertising services, and short-term investments and loans. Defendant is the father of the defendant in similarly titled case from April. |
2023.06.22 🟥 F | United States v. Ichioka, No. 3:23-cr-00190 (N.D. Cal. 2023.06.22) – Press Release | Parallel enforcement action with SEC and CFTC. Wire fraud, tax fraud, securities fraud, and commodities fraud charges over crypto-based scheme "Ichioka Ventures." Falsely promised 10% monthly returns, defrauding 100+ people of tens of millions. Used funds for luxury items, personal expenses, and repaying older investors. |
2023.06.07 🟦 ML | United States v. Verner, No. 1:19-cr-00936 (S.D.N.Y. 2023.06.07) – Press Release | Conspiracy to launder approximately 647,000 bitcoins from the 2011 hack of Mt. Gox. Related action against these defendants in connection with BTC-e exchange, infra. |
2023.05.17 🟥 F 🟧 FF | United States v. Shetty, No. 2:23-cr-00084 (W.D. Wash. 2023.05.17) – Press Release | Former CFO embezzled $35 million in company assets to his own crypto platform, HighTower Treasury, that he controlled as a side business, directly against conservative investment decision of the company. Nearly all funds lost. |
2023.04.26 🟥 F ⭕️ Other | United States v. Soufiane Oulahyane, No. (S.D.N.Y. 2023.04.26) – Press Release | Fraud and identity theft charges against Oulahyane for creating a spoofed OpenSea login website and paying for sponsored links on search engines that resulted in the theft of ETH and NFTs (including Bored Ape Yacht Club, Meebit, Bored Ape Kennel Club, and CryptoDad). |
2023.04.20 🟥 F | United States v. Kane, No. 1:23-cr-20172 (S.D. Fla. 2023.04.20) United States v. Ostern, No. 1:23-cr-20165-CMA (S.D. Fla. 2023.04.20) United States v. Chorlian, No. 1:23-cr-20171 (S.D. Fla. 2023.04.20) – Press Release – Press Release (conviction of Hampton and plea agreements for others) (2024.02.07) | Conspiracy to manipulate the market for HYDRO, a virtual asset created by the Hydrogen Technology Corporation, and wire fraud, based on spoof orders and wash trading. Five defendants: Shane Hampton (Head of Financial Engineering), Michael Kane (CEO), Andrew Chorlian (Engineer), Tyler Ostern (CEO of related entity Moonwalkers Trading Limited), George Wolvaardt (CTO of Moonwalkers Trading Limited). |
2023.04.13 🟥 F 🟦 ML | United States v. Austin, No. 1;23-cr-00199 (S.D.N.Y. 2023.04.13) – Press Release | Participation in a money laundering scheme involving cryptocurrency. Related action above, involving the defendant's father. |
2023.04.20 🟦 ML | United States v. Scanlon, No. 2:23-mj-10168 (D.N.J. 2023.04.20) – Press Release | Operating an unlicensed money services business to provide fiat and cryptocurrency financial services. |
2023.04.06 🟥 F 🟧 FF | United States v. Russell, No. 1:23-cr-00152 (E.D.N.Y. 2023.04.06) – Press Release – Press Release (sentencing) | Cryptocurrency investment fraud scheme by falsely promising to use money for cryptocurrency investments that would generate large—and sometimes “guaranteed”—returns. Instead Russell misappropriated funds for his own use and to repay other investors. |
2023.03.23 🟥 F 🟧 FF | United States v. Kwon, No. 1:23-cr-00151 (S.D.N.Y. 2023.03.23) | Criminal commodities, securities, and wire fraud against Do Kwon, founder of stablecoin UST and supporting coin LUNA, by deceiving individuals about aspects of the Terraform blockchain. Also includes market manipulation charges based on violations of the CEA and the Exchange Act. |
2023.03.21 🟥 F 🟦 ML | United States v. Dilkinska, No. 1:17-cr-00630 (S.D.N.Y. 2023.03.21) – Press Release | Superseding indictment against the Head of Legal and Compliance for OneCoin, charging conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money laundering related to the Ponzi scheme. |
2023.03.17 🟥 F 🟦 ML | United States v. Zhu, No. 3:23-cr-00066 (M.D. Fla. 2023.03.17) | Criminal money laundering and fraud scheme related to romance/pig butchering tactics that convinced victims to engage in (fake) forex and digital asset trading. CFTC brought its own enforcement action in June related to the same conduct. |
2023.03.14 🟦 ML ⭕️ Other | United States v. Nguyen, No. 2:23-mj-00528 (E.D. Pa. 2023.03.14) – Press Release | Criminal money laundering and identity theft charges against the operator of ChipMixer, an alleged darknet cryptocurrency mixer responsible for over $3 billion in laundering. |
2023.02.22 🟥 F | United States v. Okhotnikov, No. 3:23-cr-00057 (D. Or. 2023.02.22) – Press Release | Charges against four founders of Forsage for perpetrating a $340 million Ponzi scheme through a purported DeFi investment platform on Ethereum, Binance Smart Chain, and Tron blockchains. In reality the smart contracts diverted new money to pay old investors, and the founders misappropriated the funds. |
2023.01.18 🟦 ML | United States v. Legkodymov, No. 23-M-17 (E.D.N.Y. 2023.01.18) – Press Release (Re: Charges) – Press Release (Re: Arrest) | Action against founder of crypto exchange Bitzlato for facilitating money laundering. |
2023.01.09 🟥 F 🟧 FF | United States v. Eisenberg, No. 1:23-cr-00010-RMB (S.D.N.Y. 2023.01.09) – Press Release (2023.02.02) – Press Release (2023.02.02) | Commodities fraud and manipulation charges against Mango Markets attacker. |
2022.12.14 🟥 F | United States v. Da Silva, No. 1:22-cr-00622 (S.D.N.Y. 2022.12.06) United States v. Carmona, No. 1:22-cr-00551 (S.D.N.Y. 2022.10.13) – Press Release | Fraud charges against founders and promoters of cryptocurrency Ponzi schemes known as IcomTech and Forcount (Weltsys). |
2022.12.09 🟥 F 🟦 ML ⭕️ Other | United States v. Bankman-Fried, No. 1:22-cr-00673 (S.D.N.Y. 2022.12.09) – Press Release | Multiple wire fraud charges against founder of FTX for defrauding customers, lenders, investors, and money laundering resulting from the same activity. Also charges fraud on the U.S. government for campaign finance violations. |
2022.12.05 🟥 F | United States v. Thapa, No. 1:22-cr-00654 (S.D.N.Y. 2022.12.05) – Press Release | Fraud charges against CTO of tech startup for defrauding the victim company (likely Block Party Tickets) of over $1 million worth of fiat, crypto, and utility tokens. Thapa used proceeds of the crime to fund a lavish lifestyle. |
2022.11.04 🟥 F | United States v. Zhong, No. 1:22-cr-00606 (S.D.N.Y. 2022.11.04) – Press Release | Wire fraud against individual who stole over 50,676 bitcoin from Silk Road in 2012. The seizure was then the largest cryptocurrency seizure in the history of the U.S. Department of Justice and today remains the Department’s second largest financial seizure ever. |
2022.07.19 🟥 F | United States v. Wahi, No. 1:22-cr-00392 (S.D.N.Y. 2022.07.19) – Press Release (2022.07.21) – Press Release (2022.09.12) – Press Release (2023.01.10) | Insider trading scheme by Coinbase employees with knowledge of assets soon-to-be listed on Coinbase. |
2022.06.30 🟥 F 🟦 ML | United States v. Pires, No. 1:22-cr-20296 (S.D. Fla. 2022.06.30) – Press Release | Counterpart criminal case to EmpiresX SEC and CFTC cases. $100 million Ponzi scheme. |
2022.06.28 🟥 F 🟦 ML | United States v. Tuan, No. 2:22-cr-00273-JLS (C.D. Cal. 2022.06.28) – Press Release | NFT rug pull scheme of the "Baller Ape Club," netting $2.6 million. |
2022.06.28 🟥 F ⭕️ Other | United States v. Saffron, No. 2:22-cr-00276 (C.D. Cal. 2022.06.28) – Press Release – Case Status (from DOJ) | Parallel criminal action to CFTC. Fraudulent solicitation of funds to run a commodity pool for cryptocurrency trading using a bot. |
2022.06.17 🟦 ML | United States v. Gill, No. 3:22-cr-00149 (W.D.N.C. 2022.06.17) – Press Release | Unlicensed MSB for exchanging cash for cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin and monero. |
2022.06.14 ⭕️ Other | United States v. Pineda, No. 22-cr-00337 (S.D.N.Y. 2022.06.14) – Press Release | Conspiracy to break into a family's home in the middle of the night and force its residents to provide the code to what the defendants believed was tens of millions of dollars worth of bitcoin. |
2022.05.31 🟥 F 🟦 ML | United States v. Chastain, No. 1:22-cr-00305 (S.D.N.Y. 2022.05.31) – Press Release | First DOJ criminal case alleging insider trading in digital assets. Former OpenSea employee in charge of featuring NFTs on the OpenSea homepage allegedly used this information to buy and sell featured NFTs. |
2022.05.13 🟥 F | United States v. Stollery, No. 2:22-cr-00207 (C.D. Cal. 2022.05.13) – Press Release (2022.06.30) – Press Release (2022.07.25) | Securities fraud by founder of Titanium Blockchain Infrastructure Services (TBIS); fraudulent initial coin offering based on falsified documents, fake testimonials, and fake business relationships. |
2022.04.10 🟥 F | United States v. Stojanovich, No. 1:22-cr-00339 (S.D.N.Y. 2022.04.10) – Press Release – Press Release (guilty plea) | Fraudulent sales of $2 million worth of cryptocurrency miners and miner-hosting services. |
2022.03.15 🟥 F 🟦 ML | United States v. Nguyen, No. 1:22-mj-02478 (S.D.N.Y. 2022.03.15) – Press Release | Frosties and Embers NFT rug pull scheme. |
2022.02.08 ⭕️ Other | In re Search of Multiple Email Accounts Pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 2703 for Investigation of Violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1956, No. 20-sc-3310 (ZMF) (2022.02.08) | Unsealed investigative subpoenas related to email accounts allegedly used in hack of virtual currency exchange. The opinion provides a cogent summary of many areas of financial and banking law as they relate to crypto. |
2022.02.07 🟥 F 🟦 ML | United States v. Lichtenstein, No. 1:22-mj-00022 (D.D.C. 2022.02.07) – Press Release | Money laundering scheme by alleged 2016 hackers of Bitfinex resulting in $4.5 billion in bitcoin being stolen and laundered for years. |
2021.09.01 🟥 F | United States v. Arcaro, No. 3:21-cr-02542 (S.D. Cal. 2022.09.01) – Press Release (2021.09.01) – Press Release (2023.01.12) | Director and promoter of BitConnect pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. SEC also brought charges separately. |
2021.06.23 🟦 ML | United States v. Yusko, No. 2:21-cr-00077 (E.D. La. 2021.06.23) – Press Release (2021.06.24) – Press Release (2021.08.06) | Unlicensed money transmitting business. Yusko sold bitcoin to customers through unregistered businesses for a 5% fee, instructing purchasers to hide from transmitting banks the purpose of the transactions. |
2021.05.26 🟦 ML | United States v. Vo, 4:21-cr-00281 (S.D. Tex. 2021.05.26) – Press Release | Unlicensed money transmitting business. Vo bought and sold bitcoin through websites, collecting a percentage of the transactions which ranged from 5-30%. |
2021.04.26 🟦 ML | United States v. Sterlingov, No. 1:21-cr-00399 (D.D.C. 2021.04.26) – Press Release | Money laundering charges against founder of Bitcoin Fog, then the longest-running cryptocurrency mixer notorious among criminal enterprises. |
2021.03.26 🟦 ML | United States v. Hopkins, No. 3:21-cr-00144 (N.D. Tex. 2021.03.26) – Press Release | Unlicensed MSB charges against 'Doctor Bitcoin', who helped clients evade BSA requirements in converting proceeds of crime to and from bitcoin. |
2021.03.23 🟥 F 🟦 ML 🟧 FF | United States v. DeMarr, No. 1:21-cr-00153 (E.D.N.Y. 2021.03.23) – Press Release (2021.02.01) – Press Release (2021.07.30) – Press Release (2023.01.31) | Fraudulent investment scheme that purportedly provided crypto mining and trading services through "StartOptions" and "B2G", but funds were instead diverted for personal use. $3.5 million. |
2021.02.05 🟥 F 🟦 ML | United States v. Krstic, No. 3:20-cr-00120 (N.D. Tex. 2020.03.04) United States v. Krstic, No. 1:21-cr-00098 (E.D.N.Y. 2021.02.23) – Press Release | Fraudulent solicitation of investments in cryptocurrency mining and trading companies, among others, totaling $70 million. The indictments were unsealed after Krstic was extradited to the United States. |
2021.01.29 🟥 F | United States v. DeMarr, No. 1:21-mj-00128 (E.D.N.Y. 2021.01.29) – Press Release – Press Release (sentencing) | Fraudulent inducement of investments in companies Start Options and B2G; the companies purported to be investment platforms in crypto mining and trading, but were fraudulent. Investment money was diverted for personal purposes. |
2020.12.07 ⭕️ Other | United States v. Elmaani, No. 1:20-cr-00661 (S.D.N.Y. 2020.12.07) – Press Release (guilty plea) | Tax evasion charges against founder of cryptocurrency Oyster Pearl. |
2020.11.05 🟧 FF | United States v. 69,370 Bitcoin, No. 3:20-cv-07811 (N.D. Cal. 2020.11.05) | Forfeiture action against bitcoin seized in connection with shutting down the Silk Road marketplace. |
2020.09.21 🟦 ML | United States v. Hayes, No. 1:20-cr-00500-JGK (S.D.N.Y 2020.09.21) – Press Release (2020.10.01) – Press Release (2022.02.24) | Failure to establish an effective AML/KYC program by executives and cofounders of BitMEX which allowed trading in bitcoin futures, and was therefore required to register with the CFTC and FinCEN as a futures commission merchant FCM, but failed to do so. All defendants eventually pleaded guilty, agreeing to individual fines between $150,000 to $10 million, in addition to probation. |
2020.09.10 🟥 F | United States v. Levine, No. 1:20-cr-00578 (S.D.N.Y. 2020.09.10) | Criminal action against perpetrators of fraudulent scheme that convinced investors to send defendants over $5 million to purchase bitcoin. Defendants never delivered bitcoin or returned investor funds. |
2020.09.09 🟥 F 🟦 ML | United States v. Felton, No. 1:20-cr-00347 (N.D. Ga. 2020.09.09) – Press Release (2022.07.21) | Fraudulent ICO of FLiK, pump and dump of Spark Coin, money laundering of proceeds, securities fraud related to FLiK and Coin Spark. |
2020.08.06 🟥 F 🟦 ML | United States v. Dos Santos, No. 1:20-cr-00398 (S.D.N.Y. 2020.08.06) – Press Release (indictment) – Press Release (sentencing) | Fraud and money laundering charges against perpetrators of AirBit Club, a fraudulent cryptocurrency mining and trading company. Dos Santos was sentenced to 12 years in prison. |
2020.07.23 🟥 F 🟦 ML | United States v. Lacroix, No. 1:20-cr-00396-PAG (N.D. Ohio 2020.07.23) | Wire fraud a money laundering charges against purveyors of the PlexCoin ICO. |
2020.07.09 🟥 F | United States v. Kim, No. 3:20-mj-70923 (N.D. Cal. 2020.07.09) – Press Release | Wire fraud in connection with raising investment funds for a purported cryptocurrency operation; proceeds instead used for gambling. |
2020.07.09 🟥 F 🟦 ML | United States v. Argires, No. 4:21-cr-00275 (S.D. Tex. 2020.07.09) – Press Release | Fraudulently obtaining Paycheck Protection Program loans for two fake businesses, and using the funds to purchase cryptocurrency. |
2020.06.30 ⭕️ Other | United States v. Gratkowski, 964 F.3d 307 (5th Cir. 2020) – Trial Court Docket – Appellate Court Docket | Trial court denied motion to suppress history of Coinbase transactions and blockchain analytics obtained by government with a warrant. On appeal, Fifth Circuit affirmed because there is no privacy interest in bitocin transactions conducted through Coinbase or generally on the bitcoin blockchain. |
2020.06.25 🟥 F 🟦 ML 🟧 FF | United States v. Abramoff, No. 3:20-cr-00260 (N.D. Cal. 2020.06.25) – Press Release | Fraudulent fundraising for a "better" version of bitcoin, misrepresenting the development of the technology and third-party and government contracts. Misappropriation of raised funds. |
2020.06.15 ⭕️ Other | United States v. McAfee, No. 1:20-cr-10029-STA (W.D. Tenn. 2020.06.15) – Press Release | Failure to report and pay taxes on millions in income from promoting cryptocurrency and related work. No connection to the eponymous owner of the anti-virus company. |
2020.03.04 🟥 F 🟦 ML | United States v. Stojilkovic, No. 3:20-cr-00120 (N.D. Tex. 2020.03.04) – Press Release | Global fraudulent investment scheme in, among other things, binary options and cryptocurrency mining. |
2020.02.18 🟥 F ⭕️ Other | United States v. Chen, No. 2:20-cr-00089 (JFW) (C.D. Cal. 2020.02.18) | $147 million investment fundraising fraud in "Gem Coins" that purportedly could be traded among jewelry and finance industries, with option to convert Gem Coins in to USD; failure to pay taxes on income. |
2020.01.29 🟥 F 🟦 ML 🟧 FF | United States v. Caruso, No. 2:20-cr-00165 (JJT) (D. Ariz. 2020.01.29) | Investment fundraising fraud in a purported cryptocurrency fund. Misappropriation of $7 million of funds for use on luxury purchases. |
2020.01.16 🟥 F | United States v. Manor, No. 2:20-cr-00051 (D.N.J. 2020.01.16) – Press Release | Fraudulent investment scheme that raised $30 million in cash and crypto. Misrepresentations regarding nature of business, the owners, investors, revenue, and clients. |
2020.01.15 🟥 F | United States v. Ackerman, No. 1:20-cr-00093 (S.D.N.Y. 2020.01.15) – Press Release (2021.09.08) | Fraudulent cryptocurrency investment scheme. Funds diverted for personal use. |
2019.12.19 🟥 F 🟦 ML | United States v. Truglia, No. 1:19-cr-00921 (S.D.N.Y. 2019.12.19) – Press Release (sentencing) | Theft of over $20 million worth of cryptocurrency through a SIM swap attack. |
2019.12.05 🟥 F 🟧 FF | United States v. Goettsche, No. 2:19-cr-00877-CCC-2 (D.N.J. 2019.12.05) – Press Release | Wire fraud and conspiracy to sell unregistered securities through BitClub Network, which solicited money in exchange for shares of a purported crypto mining pool, and rewarded investors for recruiting new investors. $722 million. |
2019.12.03 🟦 ML | United States v. Harmon, No. 1:19-cr-00395 (D.D.C. 2019.12.03) – Press Release (2020.02.13) – Press Release (2021.08.18) | Money laundering by operation of bitcoin mixer Helix, which worked in connection with Darknet search engine Grams. |
2019.11.21 ⭕️ Other 🟧 FF | United States v. Griffith, No. 1:20-cr-00015 (S.D.N.Y. 2019.11.21) – Press Release (2022.04.12) – Press Release (2022.04.25) | Conspiracy to assist North Korea by developing and funding cryptocurrency infrastructure to assist in aiding US sanctions and fund its nuclear weapons program. |
2019.11.13 🟥 F ⭕️ Other | United States v. Meiggs, No. 1:19-cr-10438 (D. Mass. 2019.11.13) – Press Release (2022.10.19) | Theft of over $330,000 in cryptocurrency through SIM swapping attacks against executives of cryptocurrency companies and social media influencers. |
2019.10.29 🟥 F 🟦 ML ⭕️ Other | United States v. Potekhin, No. 3:19-cr-00572 (N.D. Cal. 2019.10.29) – Press Release | Fraud and money laundering scheme to imitate legitimate exchanges to trick consumers into using fraudulent crypto exchanges, resulting at least $16.8 million theft. |
2019.10.10 🟥 F | United States v. Saint Clair, No. 1:19-cr-00790-PKC (S.D.N.Y. 2019.10.10) – Press Release (2019.11.06) – Press Release (2022.03.18) | Fraudulent investment scheme in purported digital coin offering called IGObit, claiming the fund was a close affiliate of the United Nations. |
2019.09.25 🟦 ML | United States v. Trofimovics, No. 2:19-cr-00304-MJH (2019.09.25) – Press Release (2020.10.15) | Global money laundering business that used cryptocurrency tumbling services to hide the original source of ill-gotten funds. |
2019.09.17 ⭕️ Other | United States v. Nerayoff, No. 1:20-cr-00008 (E.D.N.Y. 2019.09.17) – Press Release | Extortion charges against an attorney and conspirator to "destroy a startup cryptocurrency company if they were not paid millions of dollars in the cryptocurrency Ether (ETH)." |
2019.08.15 🟥 F 🟦 ML 🟧 FF ⭕️ Other | United States v. Vernon, No. 1:19-cr-20509 (S.D. Fla. 2019.08.15) – Press Release (2022.01.26) | Founder and CEO of Cryptsy, a crypto exchange, stole over $1 million from customer wallets. Vernon remains a fugitive. |
2019.08.13 🟥 F 🟧 FF | United States v. Gunton, No. 3:19-cr-00372-EMC (N.D. Cal. 2019.08.13) – Press Release (2021.05.20) | Hacking charges (computer fraud/wire fraud) against EtherDelta attackers, resulting in losses to hundreds of victims. |
2019.07.25 🟦 ML 🟧 FF | United States v. BTC-e, No. 4:19-cv-04281 (N.D. Cal. 2019.07.25) | Civil forfeiture action against digital currency exchange BTC-e alleged to have facilitated widespread money laundering by cybercriminals, all in violation of the Bank Secrecy Act's requirements to register with FinCEN, establish an AML program, and conduct adequate KYC on customers. $100 million. Related criminal case against BTC-e and Alexander Vinnik, infra. |
2019.07.18 🟥 F | United States v. Thompson, No. 1:19-cr-00698 (S.D.N.Y. 2019.07.18) – Press Release (2019.09.30) – Press Release (2020.10.01) | Commodities fraud action against cryptocurrency escrow company. Thompson fraudulent induced a company to send him $3 million for the purchase of bitcoin, but never obtained the bitcoin and sent the money to a third party. |
2019.04.18 🟥 F 🟦 ML 🟧 FF | United States v. Gift, No. 3:19-cr-00141 (D. Or. 2019.04.18) – Press Release | Fraudulent investment scheme promising investors 20-50% zero-risk returns on bitcoin investments through wealthcurrency.com, boomcurrency.com, and merrycurrency.com. |
2019.04.11 🟥 F 🟦 ML | United States v. Fowler, No. 1:19-cr-00254-ALC (S.D.N.Y. 2019.04.11) – Press Release (2019.04.30) – Press Release (2022.04.25) | Former co-owner of the Vikings and accomplices charged in connection with work for Crypto Capital, that provided crypto-to-fiat payment processing of $750 million in deposits and withdrawals through bank accounts opened under false pretenses. |
2019.03.25 🟥 F | United States v. McDonnell, No. 1:19-cr-00148-NGG (E.D.N.Y. 2019.03.25) – Press Release | Wire fraud charges in connection with fraudulent crypto investment scheme by CabbageTech. McDonnell diverted funds for himself and sent investors false balance statements. |
2019.02.26 🟥 F 🟦 ML | United States v. Antonenko, No. 1:20-cr-10102-WGY (D. Mass. 2019.02.26) – Press Release | Computer hacking and money laundering charges related to obtaining and selling credit and debit card numbers for bitcoin, then laundering the funds. |
2019.02.26 🟥 F 🟦 ML 🟧 FF | United States v. Crater, No. 1:19-cr-10063 (D. Mass. 2019.02.26) – Press Release (2019.02.27) – Press Release (2022.07.21) | Fraudulent investment scheme to market and sell fake virtual currency through My Big Coin, supposedly backed by $300+ million in gold and oil, and had partnership with MasterCard. Crater was convicted in 2022. |
2018.11.20 🟥 F 🟧 FF | United States v. Rice, No. 3:18-cr-00587 (N.D. Tex. 2018.11.20) – Press Release (2018.11.28) – Press Release (2021.08.25) | Securities fraud related to AriseBank, purportedly a decentralized banking platform based on digital currency AriseCoin and that would be FDIC insured and a partnership with Visa. None of it was true. Rice pleaded guilty. Related case also by the SEC. |
2018.08.25 🟥 F | New York v. Eyal, (N.Y. Supr. Ct. Kings County 2018.08.25) – Press Release (2018.08.25) – Press Release (2019.12.12) | Fraudulent scheme related to the ICO of Shopin, as well as two prior companies. |
2018.08.09 🟦 ML 🟧 FF | United States v. Campos, No. 3:18-cr-03554-H (S.D. Cal. 2018.08.09) – Press Release | Money laundering charges against unlicensed bitcoin dealer with no KYC/AML policies and no MSB registration. |
2018.07.05 🟥 F 🟦 ML ⭕️ Other | United States v. Stoica, No. 5:18-cr-00081 (E.D. Ky. 2018.07.05) – Press Release | Online auction fraud. Once victims sent fiat funds, they were laundered through various cryptocurrency channels, and then converted back into fiat. |
2018.06.12 ⭕️ Other | New York v. Guzman, (N.Y. Supr. Ct. N.Y. County 2018.06.12) – Statement of Facts (c/o Morrison Cohen) – News Coverage | Kidnapping, armed robbery, and theft of more than $1.8 million in Ether. |
2018.03.31 🟥 F 🟧 FF | United States v. Trapani, No. 1:18-cr-00340 (S.D.N.Y. 2018.03.31) – Press Release (2018.04.20) – Press Release (2018.05.14) – Press Release (2020.06.16) – Press Release (2020.12.15) – Press Release (2021.03.04) | Securities and wire fraud arising from ICO conducted by Centra Tech, Inc. that purported to develop a debit/credit card allowing consumers to spend their crypto through the card. |
2018.02.21 🟥 F ⭕️ Other 🟧 FF | United States v. Kantor, No. 2:18-cr-00177 (E.D.N.Y. 2018.02.21) – Press Release (2019.07.01) | Fraudulent scheme against Blue Bit Banc investors who invested in cryptocurrency ATM Coin, a worthless coin invented to persuade investors to convert profits of BBB's binary options trading. |
2018.02.20 ⭕️ Other | United States v. Montroll, No. 1:18-cr-00520-RMB (S.D.N.Y. 2018.02.20) – Press Release (2018.02.21) – Press Release (2019.07.12) | Perjury and obstruction of justice in connection with an investigation into the hack of Montroll's two online bitcoin services, WeExchange Australia and Bitfunder.com, and securities fraud as to investors in a Ukyo.Loan. |
2018.02.15 🟥 F | United States v. Kim, No. 1:18-cr-00107 (N.D. Ill. 2018.02.15) – Press Release (2018.02.15) – Press Release (2018.11.13) | Wire fraud charge against trader who defrauded his firm out of $2 million of the company's cryptocurrencies, including bitcoin and litecoin. |
2017.11.28 🟦 ML 🟧 FF | United States v. Tetley, No. 2:17-cr-00738 (C.D. Cal. 2017.11.28) – Press Release (2018.07.09) | Unlicensed MSB charges against 'Bitcoin Maven' for offering bitcoin-for-cash exchange services, exchanging between $6 to $9.5 million for customers across the country. |
2017.10.27 🟥 F 🟧 FF | United States v. Zaslavskiy, No. 1:17-cr-00647 (E.D.N.Y. 2017.10.27) – Press Release (2017.11.01) – Press Release (2018.11.15) – Press Release (2019.11.18) | Securities fraud charges stemming from two ICOs (REcoin and DRC World). Coins were purportedly backed by real estate or diamonds. |
2017.10.25 🟦 ML | United States v. Stetkiw, No. 2:17-mj-30566 (E.D. Mich. 2017.10.25) | Complaint against Stetkiw for offering cash-to-bitcoin exchange services without registering as an MSB. Dismissed without prejudice by the U.S. in 2018. |
2017.10.17 🟥 F 🟦 ML | United States v. Scott, No. 1:17-cr-00630 (S.D.N.Y. 2017.10.17) – Press Release (sentencing) | Lawyer, former partner at Locke Lorde, facilitated OneCoin cryptocurrency fraud scheme in laundering $400 million. Sentenced to 10 years in prison. |
2017.10.12 🟥 F 🟦 ML 🟧 FF | United States v. Greenwood, No. 1:17-cr-00630-ER (2017.10.12) – Press Release (2022.12.16) | Wire fraud and money laundering against founders of OneCoin, a fraudulent pyramid scheme, resulting in over €4 billion in sales. Greenwood pled guilty. |
2017.07.21 🟦 ML 🟧 FF | United States v. Ong, No. 2:17-cr-00191 (W.D. Wash. 2017.07.21) – Press Release (2018.05.11) | Money laundering charges for exchanging bitcoin for cash; despite registering with FinCEN as an MSB, failure to implement required BSA controls. |
2017.07.20 🟥 F 🟧 FF | United States v. Garza, No. 3:17-cr-00158 (D. Conn. 2017.07.20) – Press Release (2017.07.20) – Press Release (2018.09.13) | Fraud charges against CEO of PayCoin for selling purported shares in virtual currency miners for selling the shares based on misrepresentations about the mining power and cash reserves of the company. $9.2 million. |
2017.06.29 🟥 F | United States v. Haddow, No. 1:17-mj-04939 (S.D.N.Y. 2017.06.29) – Press Release | Fraudulent investment scheme in the "Bitcoin Store" purported to be an online platform allowing customers to easily purchase, sell, and store bitcoin. Haddow misappropriated the funds. |
2017.04.21 🟦 ML 🟧 FF | United States v. Costanzo, No. 2:17-cr-00585 (D. Ariz. 2017.04.21) – Press Release (2018.03.29) – Press Release (2018.08.01) | Money laundering charges against 'Morpheus Titania' for exchanging bitcoin for cash to drug dealers, and purchasing drugs with bitcoin. |
2016.05.31 🟦 ML | United States v. BTC-e, No. 3:16-cr-00227 (N.D. Cal. 2016.05.31) – Press Release (2022.08.05) | Criminal action against crypto exchange BTC-e and its founder that allegedly was widely used by criminals to launder proceeds of crime due to minimal AML/KYC safeguards. Founder Alexander Vinnik was extradited from Greece to the US in August 2022. Note the parallel civil forfeiture action, supra. |
2015.12.04 🟦 ML ⭕️ Other | United States v. Petix, No. 1:15-cr-00227 (W.D.N.Y. 2015.12.04) – Press Release (2015.12.07) – Press Release (2016.03.11) – Press Release (2017.04.27) | Unlawful access to a computer by individual on probation from child pornography conviction. Petix used the computer to conduct 100+ bitcoin transactions. Many transactions were conducted to transfer money to others, as an unregistered MSB. |
2015.11.18 🟥 F 🟦 ML 🟧 FF | United States v. Lord, No. 5:15-cr-00240 (W.D. La. 2015.11.18) – Press Release (2016.04.20) – Press Release (2017.05.25) – Fifth Circuit decision affirming denial of motion to withdraw guilty pleas at 915 F.3d 1009 (5th Cir. 2019) | Failure to register as an MSB while exchanging bitcoins for cash for clients. Fraud against payments processors unwittingly utilized in the scheme by hiding the true nature of the business. Both defendants pleaded guilty to a single MSB count. |
2015.11.17 🟦 ML | United States v. Mansy, No. 2:15-cr-00198 (D. Me. 2015.11.17) – Press Release (2017.05.17) | Failure to register as an MSB while buying and selling bitcoin for others. |
2015.07.17 🟦 ML | United States v. Murgio, No. 1:15-cr-00769 (S.D.N.Y. 2015.07.17) – Press Release (2015.07.21) – Press Release (2015.11.10) – Press Release (2016.03.03) – Press Release (2017.01.09) – Press Release (2017.03.17) – Press Release (2017.06.27) | Operators of Coin.mx, a bitcoin exchange service, charged with failure to register as an MSB or comply with the BSA's AML/KYC requirements. |
2014.02.06 🟦 ML | Florida v. Espinoza, No. F14-2923 (Fla. Cir. Ct. 2014) | First-impression money laundering charges against individual offering cash-for-bitcoin exchange services without registering as a money services business. Initially dismissed after trial court ruled bitcoin does not qualify as money, reinstated on appeal. |
2014.01.24 🟦 ML | United States v. Faiella, No. 1:14-cr-00243 (S.D.N.Y. 2014.01.24) – Press Release (2014.01.27) – Press Release (2014.09.04) – Press Release (2014.12.19) – Press Release (2015.01.20) | Money laundering and unregistered MSB charges against two individuals in scheme to sell over $1 million in bitcoin to users of Silk Road. |
2013.05.20 🟦 ML 🟧 FF | United States v. Liberty Reserve, S.A., No. 1:13-cr-00368-DLC (S.D.N.Y. 2013.05.20) – Press Release (2013.05.28) – Press Release (2013.11.01) – Press Release (2014.08.14) – Press Release (2014.09.11) – Press Release (2014.09.23) – Press Release (2014.10.10) – Press Release (2014.12.12) – Press Release (2015.01.30) – Press Release (2016.01.29) – Press Release (2016.05.06) | Money laundering and unregistered MSB charges against Liberty Reserve, at the time one of the largest digital currency services, and seven of its principals. |
Misc Fed/State
| Date / Type | Name / Court / Docket Link | Notes |
|---|---|---|
2023.10.12 | Federal Trade Commission v. Voyager Digital, LLC, No. 1:23-cv-08960 (S.D.N.Y. 2023.10.12) – Press Release | Parallel enforcement action with CFTC, but alleging Ehrlich and Voyager violated the FTC Act and the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act based on misrepresentations to customers. |
2023.07.13 | Federal Trade Commission v. Celsius Network Inc., No. 1:23-cv-06009 (S.D.N.Y. 2023.07.13) | Parallel enforcement action with DOJ, CFTC, and SEC. Celsius along with former CEO Alexander Mashinsky and other executives, charged with unfair and deceptive practices, misappropriating customer funds in violation of the FTC Act, and violations of the GLB Act by obtaining customer financial information on false pretenses. |
2023.03.09 | New York v. Mek Global Ltd. d/b/a KuCoin, No. _ (N.Y. Supr. Ct. 2023.03.09) | Action by NY attorney general against KuCoin for failing to register as securities or commodities exchange while selling ETH, UST, LUNA, and offering KuCoin earn, all in violation of the Martin Act. |
2023.02.22 | New York v. Vino Global Ltd. d/b/a CoinEx, No. 450503/2023 (N.Y. Supr. Ct. 2023.02.22) | Action by NY attorney general against CoinEx for failing to register as an exchange and selling unregistered securities, all in violation of the Martin Act. Tokens at issue: AMP, LBC, LUNA, $RLY. |
2023.01.05 | New York v. Alex Mashinsky, No. 450040/2023 (N.Y. Supr. Ct. 2023.01.05) | NY attorney general action against Celsius founder and former CEO alleging he defrauded depositors of digital assets out of billions by misrepresenting the firm's financial condition. |
2022.11.28 | In re Payward, Inc. d/b/a Kraken (OFAC Admin. Proc. 2022.11.28) | $362,158 settlement over alleged violations of Iranian transactions and sanctions regulations, resulting from failure to timely implement geolocation tools. |
2022.09.26 | In re Nexo Inc., Nexo Capital, Inc. and Nexo Financial, LLC – California – Kentucky – Maryland – New York – Oklahoma – South Carolina – Vermont – Washington | Coordinated action by eight States to simultaneously bring enforcement actions based on unregistered sale of securities in violation of local law for interest bearing crypto deposit accounts. |
2022.08.01 | Idaho Dep't of Finance v. Celsius Network, No. 2022-07-07 (Idaho Admin. Proc. 2022.08.01) | Unregistered sale of securities, unregistered money transmitter business, unauthorized trust activity. |
2022.08.01 | In re Robinhood Crypto, LLC (N.Y.D.F.S. Admin. Proc. 2022.08.01) | Consent order imposing $30 million fine on Robinhood for failing to implement and maintain AML and cybersecurity programs. |
2021.08.30 | iFinex Inc. v. New York, No. 158119/2021 (N.Y. Sup. Ct. 2021.08.30) | Action by Bitfinex and Tether pursuant to New York's Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) seeking to prevent public disclosure of documents related to Tether's reserves involved in a settlement with the New York Attorney General's office. |
2021.02.17 | New York v. Coinseed Inc., No. 450366/2021 (N.Y. Sup. Ct. 2021.02.17) | Unregistered sales of a token while making misrepresentations about the management team; unregistered broker dealer; all in violation of New York's Martin Act. |
2020.10.19 | In re Larry Dean Harmon, No. 2020-2 (FinCEN Admin. Proc. 2020.10.19) | Civil money penalty against CEO of Coin Ninja and Helix for failing to comply with the AML obligations of the BSA as an MSB (and failing to register as an MSB). |
Challenges
The Challenges section involves cases where the plaintiff is suing the government, usually an administrative agency, for relief of some kind.
| Date | Name / Court / Docket Link | Notes |
|---|---|---|
2024.10.08 | Foris Dax Inc. d/b/a Crypto.com v. SEC, No. 6:24-cv00373 (E.D. Tex. Oct. 8, 2024) | Declaratory judgment action by Crypto.com after receiving a Wells notice seeking a declaration that secondary market trading of SOL, ADA, BNB, FIL, FLOW, ICP, ATOM, ALGO, NEAR, and DASH are not securities transactions and that the SEC's attempt to define, only through enforcement actions, a new class of security called a "crypto asset security" unlawfully creates a new, unwritten rule in violation of the Administrative Procedure Act. The action seeks a declaration that the tokens at issue are not securities and that Crypto.com does not act as an unregistered broker-dealer or clearing agency by allowing their trading on its platform. |
2024.07.29 | Mann v. SEC, No. 2:24-cv-01881 (E.D. La. July 29, 2024) | Declaratory judgment action by Jonathan Mann (aka Song A Day Mann) and lawyer/conceptual artist Brian L. Frye seeking a declaration that publicly offering and selling their art as NFTs, attaching royalties to the NFTs, and/or marketing the NFTs and their personal artistic endeavors to the public do not constitute the offer and sale of securities. |
2024.06.27 | History Associates Inc. v. SEC, No. 1:24-cv-01858 (D.D.C. June 27, 2024) History Associates Inc. v. FDIC, No. 1:24-cv-01857 (D.D.C. June 27, 2024) | Coinbase funded actions to compel responses to FOIA requests from the SEC and FDIC, related to the SEC's views of its authority over the crypto industry and the FDIC's letters to financial institutions asking them to indefinitely pause crypto-related activities. |
2024.04.25 | Consensys Software Inc. v. Gensler, No. 4:24-cv-00369-O (N.D. Tex. 2024.04.25) – Consensys Press Release – Fortune article – Reuters article – Bloomberg article | Action by maker of MetaMask to declare unlawful putative SEC enforcement action against the company by seeking a declaration that (i) ETH is not a security and Consensys’s sales of ETH are not securities transactions; (ii) any investigation or enforcement action against Consensys premised on ETH being a security or ETH transactions being securities transactions would exceed the SEC’s regulatory authority and violate the fair notice requirement of the Due Process Clause; (iii) Consensys neither acts as a broker, nor offers or sells securities, through the Swaps and Staking functionality of its MetaMask wallet software; and (iv) any investigation or enforcement action against Consensys premised on it acting as a broker or offering and selling securities through its MetaMask software would exceed the SEC’s authority. |
2024.04.23 | Crypto Freedom Alliance of Texas v. SEC, No. 4:24-cv-00361-P (N.D. Tex. 2024.04.23) – BA Press Release – Reuters article – WSJ article – The Block article | CFAT and Blockchain Association allege that the SEC violated the APA in unlawfully expanding the SEC’s interpretation of the statutory term “dealer,” enacted as part of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. |
2024.03.25 | DeFi Education Fund v. SEC, No. 6:24-cv-00153 (W.D. Tex. 2024.03.25) – DeFi EF Press Release | Declaratory judgment action seeks to declare that Beba's airdrops of tokens to users (for free) does not render the tokens investment contracts. Also seeks to declare the SEC's de facto policy that "all digital assets" are investment contracts a violation of the APA. |
2024.02.21 | LEJILEX v. SEC, No. 4:24-cv-00168-O (N.D. Tex. 2024.02.21) – CFAT Press Release | Declaratory judgment action by LEJILEX and CFAT to declare the bounds of the SEC's power with respect to digital assets and confirm LEJILEX's putative trading platform does not have to register with the SEC as a securities exchange, broker, or clearing agency. |
2023.12.15 | In re Coinbase, Inc., No. 23-3202 (3d Cir. 2023.12.15) – Coinbase opening brief | Petition for review of SEC's denial of its petition for rulemaking seeking for the SEC to create formal rules to govern the digital asset industry. |
2023.04.26 | In re Coinbase, Inc., No. 23-1779 (3d Cir. 2023.04.26) | Coinbase petition for writ of mandamus seeking to require SEC to respond to its petition for rulemaking. Dismissed as moot following formal SEC denial of petition for rulemaking. |
2022.11.22 | Hodl Law, PLLC v. SEC, 3:22-cv-01832 (S.D. Cal. 2022.11.22) – Bloomberg article – Law360 article – Order granting SEC motion to dismiss (2023.07.28) – Order affirming decision (9th Cir) | Declaratory action seeking judicial order that Ethereum's native token is not a security. |
2022.10.31 | Petition for rulemaking to the CFTC in light of the Ooki DAO enforcement action. | |
2022.10.12 | Coin Center v. Yellen, No. 3:22-cv-20375 (N.D. Fla. 2022.10.12) – Coin Center Press Release – Order on cross-MSJs, in Treasury's favor (2023.10.30) Coin Center v. Secretary, U.S. Dep't of Treasury, No. 23-13698-E (11th Cir. 2023.11.07) | Coin Center funded lawsuit challenging OFAC's Tornado Cash sanctions. The case is pending appeal. |
2022.09.08 | Van Loon v. Dep't of the Treasury, No. 6:22-cv-00920 (W.D. Tex. 2022.09.08) – Coinbase Press Release – MSJ in Treasury's favor. “Tornado Cash is an entity that may be properly designated as a person under IEEPA,” specifically that it was an entity “composed of its founders, its developers, and its DAO.” (2023.08.17) Van Loon v. Dep't of the Treasury, No. 23-50669 (5th Cir. 2023.09.20) | Coinbase funded lawsuit challenging OFAC's Tornado Cash sanctions. The case is pending appeal. |
2022.07.21 | Coinbase Petition for Rulemaking – Digital Asset Securities Regulation, File No. 4-789 (SEC Admin. Proc. 2022.07.21) – Statement of Chair Gensler on denial of the petition (2023.12.15) | Coinbase seeks a framework for determining when digital assets are securities through binding rulemaking. |
2022.06.29 | Grayscale Investments, LLC v. SEC, No. 22-1142 (D.C. Cir. 2022.06.29) – Oral Argument – Opinion in Grayscale's favor. "The Commission’s unexplained discounting of the obvious financial and mathematical relationship between the spot and futures markets falls short of the standard for reasoned decisionmaking." (2023.08.29) | Challenge to SEC's refusal to grant spot Bitcoin ETP / ETF. Led by former US Solicitor General Donald Verrilli. |
2022.06.10 | Carman v. Yellen, No. 5:22-cv-00149 (E.D. Ky. 2022.06.10) – Order granting motion to dismiss for lack of subject matter jurisdiction and failure to state a claim (2023.07.19) Carman v. Yellen, No. 23-5662 (6th Cir. 2023.07.25) | Coin Center funded lawsuit challenging enforcement of 26 USC § 6050I's reporting mandate as it could be applied to crypto transactions. An appeal is pending. |
2022.06.07 | Custodia Bank Inc v. Federal Reserve Board of Governors, No. 1:22-cv-00125 (D. Wyo. 2022.06.07) – Order in the Fed's favor denying Custodia right to a master account – Federal Reserve Order Denying Application for Membership (2023.03.24) | Custodia Bank seeks a master account with the Federal Reserve, and to compel a response to its application, pending for more than 19 months. An appeal is pending. |
2021.12.08 | Empower Oversight Whistleblowers & Research v. SEC, No. 1:21-cv-01370 (E.D. Va. 2021.12.08) | Petition to compel FOIA response re former SEC official conflicts of interest in cryptocurrency oversight (Hinman, Clayton, Berger). |
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