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.
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.
Evolved Apes (NFT)ProjectsAn NFT collection launched on OpenSea in September 2021 that promised a fighting game. About a week later its anonymous developer 'Evil Ape' vanished with 798 ETH (~$2.7M). In June 2024 U.S. prosecutors charged three U.K. nationals over the scheme.
This page was last updated on Jun 15, 2026. View revision history.