Douver Torres Braga
Brazilian national who the SEC says created and controlled Trade Coin Club, a crypto MLM that raised ~82,000 BTC (~$295M) from 100,000+ investors as a Ponzi scheme. Charged civilly by the SEC (2022) and criminally; later extradited to the U.S.
Also known as: Douver Torres Braga
Note: The allegations below are from the SEC's complaint and related criminal charges and have not been adjudicated.
Bio
Douver Torres Braga created and controlled Trade Coin Club, a multi-level-marketing program (2016–2018) that promised investors guaranteed minimum daily returns (~0.35%) from a purported crypto "trading bot." Per the SEC, the bot did no real trading; blockchain analysis showed 99.96% of withdrawals were funded by other investors' deposits — a Ponzi scheme — and Braga personally received at least 8,396 BTC (~$55M at the time). [1][2]
Status
The SEC charged Braga and three U.S. promoters in November 2022 over the ~$295 million scheme (82,000+ BTC from 100,000+ investors). Braga, based in Brazil, also faced U.S. criminal charges and was later extradited. [1][2]
Bracketed numbers refer to the numbered sources listed below.
Sources (2)
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.
