Ethan Nguyen
Co-creator (alias 'Frostie') of the Frosties NFT project, which the DOJ charged in March 2022 as its first NFT 'rug pull' case — abandoning the project hours after a ~$1.1M sellout and moving the funds to obfuscate their source.
Also known as: Frostie, Jakefiftyeight
Note: Charged by the DOJ; described here per the criminal complaint.
Bio
Ethan Nguyen (alias "Frostie") co-created the Frosties NFT project with Andre Llacuna, promising holders giveaways, a metaverse game, and future mints. In January 2022, hours after Frosties sold out for about $1.1 million, the pair abruptly shut down the project and moved the funds through multiple wallets to obscure their source. [1][2]
Status
On March 24, 2022, the SDNY charged Nguyen and Llacuna with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money laundering — the DOJ's first NFT "rug pull" prosecution — as they were preparing a second project ("Embers"). [1][2]
Bracketed numbers refer to the numbered sources listed below.
Linked scams & cases
Sources (2)
See also
- Blockchain Terminal (BCT)TokensA 2017–2018 ICO (BCT tokens, ~$30M) for a 'Blockchain Terminal' — a Bloomberg-style crypto trading terminal. The SEC and DOJ said convicted ex-hedge-funder Boaz Manor secretly ran it under a fake identity ('Shaun MacDonald'), using associate Edith Pardo as a front, and lied about the product's adoption.
- Dropil (DROP)TokensAn ICO for the DROP token built around a fake 'Dex' trading bot. The SEC said it raised ~$1.9M while claiming $54M from 34,000 investors, and that the founders falsified evidence during the probe. Founders Jeremy McAlpine and Zachary Matar pleaded guilty to securities fraud (36 and 30 months).
- CluCoin (CLU)Tokens
This page was last updated on Jun 8, 2026. View revision history.