Jared Rice Sr.
Founder and CEO of AriseBank, marketed as the world's 'first decentralized bank.' He pleaded guilty to securities fraud over the AriseCoin ICO and was sentenced in 2021 to five years in prison plus ~$4.26M in restitution.
Also known as: Jared Rice, Jared Rice Sr.
Bio
Jared Rice Sr. founded and led AriseBank, which promoted its AriseCoin (AriseCoin/AODC) ICO as the world's "first decentralized banking platform." He falsely told investors AriseBank offered FDIC-insured accounts and Visa-branded credit cards; in reality it had no such banking authority, FDIC insurance, or Visa partnership, and Rice diverted investor funds for personal use. The SEC halted the ICO in January 2018. [1][2]
Legal outcome
Rice settled the SEC's civil action in 2018, pleaded guilty to one count of securities fraud in March 2019, and on August 25, 2021 was sentenced to five years (60 months) in federal prison and ordered to pay $4,258,073 in restitution. [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.
