SEC charges Trade Coin Club in alleged $295 million bitcoin Ponzi scheme
Quick Take
- The SEC is suing Trade Coin Club, an alleged Ponzi scheme that netted 82,000 bitcoin from 2016 to 2018.
The Securities and Exchange Commission filed a case against the operators of Trade Coin Club, which they allege to be a massive crypto Ponzi scheme.
The SEC's complaints outline a scheme that netted over 82,000 bitcoin from 2016 through 2018. By the commission's math, the total BTC intake was worth over $295 million at the time.
Trade Coin Club promised minimum daily returns of 0.35% to investors, based on the work of a trading bot conducting constant high-speed "microtransactions." Instead, "investor withdrawals were paid solely with investor deposits," according to the complaint.
Founder Douver Torres Braga and early members Joff Paradise, Keleionalani Akana Taylor and Jonathan Tetreault were named in the SEC's complaints as four promoters of the alleged pyramid scheme. The suit calls for them to return any profits from their ill-gotten gains.
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