The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has charged Nishad Singh, the former Co-Lead Engineer of FTX Trading Ltd. (FTX), for his involvement in a multiyear scheme to defraud equity investors in FTX, a crypto trading platform that Singh co-founded with Samuel Bankman-Fried and Gary Wang. The scheme allegedly involved diverting […]
Cryptocurrency
SEC Charges Terraform and CEO Do Kwon in Crypto Schemes
We discussed this case previously in connection with the firm’s CEO,s attempts to avoid service of a subpoena and his refusal to comply. The company not only refused to comply, but it sued the SEC for violation of various statutes. See, What Happens if I Ignore an SEC Subpoena. Now […]
Getting Paid to Promote Securities? You Need to Disclose That Fact!
Former NBA player Paul Pierce was paid more than $244,000 worth of EMAX tokens in order to promote them on Twitter. He failed to disclose the payment and ultimately agreed to settle an SEC case by disgorging the $244,000 payment, plus interest and $1,115,000 million in penalties. That is a […]
Kraken to Discontinue Unregistered Offer and Sale of Crypto Asset Staking-As-A-Service Program and Pay $30 Million to Settle SEC Charges
Feb. 9, 2023, the SEC has taken action against Payward Ventures, Inc. and Payward Trading Ltd., commonly known as Kraken, for violating federal securities laws by failing to register the offer and sale of their crypto-asset staking-as-a-service program. Both Kraken entities have agreed to a settlement, which requires them to […]
SEC Tightens Cryptocurrency Enforcement
The SEC continues to make cryptocurrency-related enforcement a top priority under Chair Gary Gensler, bringing 30 enforcement actions against digital-asset market participants in 2022, up 50% from the 20 actions brought in 2021 and the highest number since 2013, according to a Cornerstone Research report released today. The report, SEC […]
SEC Charges 8 in Connection with $45 Million Crypto Fraud
Jan. 4, 2023 —The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged Neil Chandran, Garry Davidson, Michael Glaspie, Amy Mossel, Linda Knott, AEO Publishing Inc, Banner Co-Op, Inc, and BannersGo, LLC for their involvement in a fraudulent investment scheme named CoinDeal that raised more than $45 million from sales of unregistered securities […]
SBF Borrowed a Half Billion Dollars from his Fund
Interesting article from Forbes – SBF borrowed half a billion dollars from his hedge fund to finance a purchase of Robinhood stock. When Sam Bankman-Fried bought a nearly 7.6% stake in Robinhood, the popular stock-trading app, earlier this year, he financed the deal with more than half a billion dollars […]
Creator of Global Crypto Ponzi Scheme Charged with $295 Million Fraud
Nov. 4, 2022 — The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced charges against Douver Torres Braga, Joff Paradise, Keleionalani Akana Taylor, and Jonathan Tetreault for their roles in Trade Coin Club, a fraudulent crypto Ponzi scheme that raised more than 82,000 bitcoin, valued at $295 million at the time, from […]
Kim Kardashian Settles SEC Charges for Unlawfully Touting Crypto Security
October 3, 2022 – The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced charges against and settlement with, Kim Kardashian for touting on social media a crypto asset security offered and sold by EthereumMax without disclosing the payment she received for the promotion. Section 17(b) of the Securities Act makes it unlawful […]
Sparkster to Pay $35 Million to Harmed Investor Fund for Unregistered Crypto Asset Offering
Sept. 19, 2022 — The Securities and Exchange Commission today issued a cease-and-desist order against Sparkster Ltd. and its CEO, Sajjad Daya, for the unregistered offer and sale of crypto asset securities from April 2018 through July 2018 and charged crypto influencer Ian Balina for failing to disclose compensation he […]