31 entries tagged “token”.
A ~$16M token offering (SAFTs for 'Bitcoin Latinum' / LTNM) that the SEC charged in 2026 as fraud: founder Donald Basile falsely called LTNM 'the world's first insured digital asset' backed by an 'existing trust,' neither of which existed, and diverted investor funds for personal use (including a $160,000 horse).
A 2017–2018 ICO for 'LOCIcoin' tied to the InnVenn IP-search platform. The SEC charged Loci and CEO John Wise with fraud for raising $7.6M on false claims about revenue, headcount, and user base; Wise also misused investor funds. Settled with a $7.6M penalty and an officer/director bar.
A 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.
A 2018 ICO for 'Crowd Machine Compute Tokens' (CMCT) that the SEC charged as fraudulent: founder Craig Sproule raised ~$33M to build a decentralized app platform but secretly diverted $5.8M to South African gold-mining entities. Consent judgments ordered ~$20M+ and barred Sproule as an officer/director.
A purported gold/art-backed digital asset that the SEC called a fraud: it falsely claimed backing by $1B in art or $2B in gold and 'risk-free' returns up to 224,923%, raising $4.3M+ from 150+ investors. Defendants were jailed for contempt; founder Robert Dunlap was later convicted of mail fraud.
An 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).
A 2017–2018 ICO for the VERI token that the SEC said raised ~$14.8M via false statements and that founder Reginald Middleton manipulated on secondary markets. Middleton and Veritaseum settled with the SEC in 2019 for ~$9.5M and a permanent digital-securities bar.
A Miami-based crypto token (CLU) that ran a 2021 ICO and pivoted to NFTs and a metaverse game. Founder Austin Michael Taylor ('DNPthree') secretly siphoned ~$1.14M of investor funds into online casinos; he pleaded guilty to wire fraud and was sentenced in 2025 to 27 months.
A BNB Chain index token whose website briefly displayed 'WE SCAMMED YOU GUYS…' in May 2021, prompting rug-pull reports. A widely shared $32M figure is disputed — the team said the site was hacked and its market cap never exceeded $2M.
A zkSync DEX (token MAGE) drained of ~$1.8M during its April 2023 token launch — concluded to be a rug pull by rogue developers via excessive 'feeTo' permissions. CertiK had audited it days earlier and later offered a victim compensation plan.
An Arbitrum DEX (token SAPR) whose deployer rug-pulled ~$3M in May 2023 by using proxy upgradeability to swap the audited staking contract for a malicious one. Funds were laundered via Tornado Cash. CertiK had audited it weeks earlier and later flagged it an 'exit scam'.
A BNB Chain Dogecoin-style memecoin/DEX. In July 2022, PeckShield said developer-controlled wallets executed a 'soft rug pull', selling ~$4.5M of TEDDY (converted to ~10,000 BNB + 2M BUSD, sent to Binance). TEDDY fell ~99%.
A Solana yield aggregator launched via the SolPAD launchpad that went dark in Aug 2021 after withdrawing liquidity — one of Solana's first major rug pulls. CoinDesk verified ~$6.7M removed; funds were reportedly bridged to Ethereum and routed through Tornado Cash.
An Avalanche OlympusDAO-style 'reserve memecoin' run as an 8-day experiment (Nov 2021). When its promised treasury-funded 'buyback' opened on a private AMM, SDOG crashed 90%+ in seconds; only ~7% of supply could sell at a profit and insiders reportedly back-ran it for ~$10M. The team called it a 'game-theory experiment'.
An Avalanche OlympusDAO-style 'reserve currency' protocol whose TIME token crashed after on-chain investigator ZachXBT revealed (Jan 2022) that its pseudonymous treasury manager '0xSifu' was Michael Patryn — a convicted felon and co-founder of the collapsed QuadrigaCX exchange.
A 2021 BNB Chain 'charity' token heavily promoted by influencers, including FaZe Clan members. Its advertised anti-whale limit was changed from 24 hours to 60 seconds just before launch, enabling insiders to dump; widely described as a pump-and-dump.
A purported blockchain marketplace whose 2017–2018 ICO of 'OPP Tokens' raised ~$600K from ~200 investors. The SEC charged founder Sergii Grybniak with fraud for falsely calling the ICO 'SEC registered/compliant' and exaggerating the platform's users; a 2025 final judgment imposed a $100K penalty.
A Utah operation that the SEC says raised ~$18M selling 'Green Boxes'/'Green Nodes' that supposedly mined a 'GREEN' token on a 'Green Blockchain.' In reality GREEN was a non-mineable ERC-20 the founder pre-minted, and the boxes mined Bitcoin that wasn't given to investors.
A token (ORME) sold via the Ormeus Global MLM that the SEC said defrauded thousands of investors of $124M+. The Barksdale siblings falsely claimed it was backed by a $250M crypto-mining operation producing $5.4–8M/month — they had abandoned mining in 2019 after under $3M in total revenue.
A dog-themed crypto token (Saitama Inu, plus the related SaitaRealty) that the SEC and DOJ charged in October 2024 as a fraudulent, manipulated securities offering. Promoters allegedly hyped a 'Saitama ecosystem' while secretly dumping holdings and hiring market makers (Gotbit, ZM Quant) to fake volume.
An Ethereum yield aggregator (a Harvest/Yearn clone) that rug-pulled ~$10.8M (some estimates ~$12.5M) in Dec 2020 by swapping audited 'Strategy' contracts for malicious ones via an unmonitored timelock. CP3R fell ~99% and the team vanished.
A 2014–2015 virtual currency created by Homero 'Josh' Garza via GAW Miners/ZenMiner. The SEC and DOJ said it was a Ponzi scheme built on 'Hashlets' that didn't exist plus false claims of a $100M reserve. Garza pleaded guilty to wire fraud; victims lost $9M+.
A Solana DEX whose MNGO token was manipulated by trader Avraham Eisenberg in Oct 2022 to borrow ~$110M against an inflated position. He returned ~$67M; a 2024 jury conviction was vacated on appeal in 2025 (venue + no material misstatement), which prosecutors appealed.
An AI trading-terminal token launched via Binance Alpha in Oct 2025 that surged to a multi-billion-dollar FDV — briefly among the largest crypto assets by valuation — before a ~77% crash on Jun 2, 2026. ZachXBT alleges insiders, led by founder Vova Sadkov, control over 95% of supply and ran a coordinated market-maker pump. LAB has not publicly responded; no charges have been reported.
A memecoin on Coinbase's Base network that surged in late July 2023, then collapsed ~90% when its pseudonymous deployer removed liquidity — a rug pull. Reported liquidity removed ranged from about $23M to $25.6M.
An OlympusDAO-style project with no website or whitepaper and pseudonymous developers that raised ~13,556 ETH (~$60M) in October 2021. About 20 hours later all liquidity was withdrawn and the token fell to zero — a rug pull.
A Solana memecoin tied to viral personality Haliey Welch, launched Dec 4, 2024. Its market cap reached ~$490M before falling 95%+ within hours, prompting rug-pull/pump-and-dump allegations and a securities lawsuit against the operators (not Welch).
A 2021 Ethereum token (unrelated to Ethereum) promoted by celebrities. The SEC charged Kim Kardashian for touting it without disclosing a $250,000 payment; she settled for $1.26M. A private 'pump-and-dump' class action was later dismissed.
A BNB Chain token (2021) whose leaders, per the SEC/DOJ, falsely told investors the liquidity pool was 'locked' while retaining access and misappropriating assets worth more than $200M. CEO convicted in 2025.
A ~$147M pyramid scheme (2013–2015) by U.S. Fine Investment Arts (USFIA) that sold 'Gem Coins' — a digital currency falsely claimed to be backed by billions in amber and gemstones from nonexistent mines. Founder Steve Chen pleaded guilty and was sentenced in 2021 to 10 years.
A Solana memecoin created by Kelsier Ventures (led by Hayden Davis). After Argentine President Javier Milei promoted it on Feb 14, 2025, its market cap briefly topped ~$4.5B before insiders sold; reporting describes a rug pull with about $251M in investor losses.