Bruce Bise
Co-founder of Bitqyck, which sold the Bitqy and BitqyM tokens. The SEC said the firm raised ~$24M from 13,000+ investors via false claims; Bise settled SEC fraud charges (2019) and was sentenced in 2022 to 50 months for tax evasion.
Also known as: Bruce Bise
Bio
Bruce Bise co-founded the Dallas-based Bitqyck with Sam Mendez. The SEC said Bitqyck sold the Bitqy and BitqyM tokens in unregistered offerings — falsely promising fractional Bitqyck stock and interests in a (nonexistent) bitcoin-mining facility — and ran an unregistered exchange, raising money from more than 13,000 investors who lost most of their funds. [1][2]
Legal outcome
In 2019 Bise and Mendez settled the SEC's fraud charges (Bitqyck paid an $8.375M penalty; Bise paid $890,254). Bise later pleaded guilty to tax evasion — having diverted Bitqyck funds for personal use — and was sentenced in March 2022 to 50 months in prison and ~$1.6M owed. [1][2]
Bracketed numbers refer to the numbered sources listed below.
Sources (2)
- SEC Charges Dallas Company and its Founders With Defrauding Investors (Bitqyck) — U.S. SEC
- Founders of Crypto ICO Sentenced to Combined 8 Years for Tax Evasion — CBS Texas (DOJ release summary)
See also
Luke BelmarIndividualsCryptocurrency influencer Luke Belmar (@lukebelmar on X) became the subject of controversy following allegations related to the promotion of a memecoin. Critics on social media alleged that Belmar used a series of posts referencing a forthcoming cryptocurrency project and a large-scale airdrop to generate interest in a token without explicitly identifying a specific contract address. Belmar published multiple posts discussing an upcoming memecoin, describing plans for what he characterized as a major airdrop and making comparisons to other cryptocurrency projects. Because no contract address was publicly provided, several tokens emerged claiming association with his statements. Critics alleged that this ambiguity enabled speculation around multiple tokens while avoiding a direct endorsement of any particular asset.
HEX / PulseChain (Richard Heart)ProjectsCrypto projects (HEX, PulseChain, PulseX) created by Richard Heart (Richard Schueler). In July 2023 the U.S. SEC sued him for offering unregistered securities that raised $1B+ and for allegedly misappropriating ~$12M for luxury goods (including a 555-carat diamond). A court dismissed the case in 2024 for lack of U.S. jurisdiction; there was no finding of wrongdoing and Heart denies the allegations.
This page was last updated on Jun 15, 2026. View revision history.
