Eran Eyal
Founder and CEO of Shopin. He pleaded guilty to felony securities fraud (NY Martin Act) over Shopin's ~$42.5M ICO — built on fake retailer partnerships and a nonexistent product — and also admitted fraud tied to two earlier companies; he settled parallel SEC charges.
Also known as: Eran Eyal
Bio
Eran Eyal, an entrepreneur with Israeli and South African citizenship, founded the blockchain startup Shopin and led its 2017–2018 ICO, which the SEC and NY AG said was fraudulent — touting fake retailer partnerships and a working platform that never existed, while he misappropriated investor funds. [1][2]
Legal outcome
In December 2019, Eyal pleaded guilty to felony securities fraud under New York's Martin Act (and two scheme-to-defraud counts tied to prior companies Springleap and Passo Sync), was banned for three years from raising capital or serving as an officer in New York, ordered to pay restitution, and surrendered ~3,105 ETH from Shopin investors. He settled the SEC's parallel case in 2020 (officer/director and digital-securities bars). [1][2]
Bracketed numbers refer to the numbered sources listed below.
Linked scams & cases
Sources (2)
- AG James Announces Criminal Conviction of Shopin's Eran Eyal — New York Attorney General
- SEC Charges Founder, Digital-Asset Issuer With Fraudulent ICO (Shopin) — U.S. SEC
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.
