Sep 30, 2020 at 19:22 UTCUpdated Sep 30, 2020 at 19:38 UTC.A Florida crypto trader has been charged with duping $6.8 million from investors in his purported digital asset day trading shop.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission alleged in its Tuesday complaint that the defendant, Thomas J. Gity, defrauded investors from January 2018 through January 2019 as he claimed to never end a trading day in the red.
Gity allegedly lured in 18 investors with lofty promises of outsize returns and assertions that he had $100 million under management.
The SEC claims that Gity cooked his books to sell the lie.
Only $970,000 of investors' funds ever landed in Gity's trading account, the SEC alleged.
About $1.8 million allegedly went to Gity's son.
Prosecutors said Gity used the rest to perpetuate his Ponzi-like scheme.
Gity was charged with multiple violations of securities law in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida on Tuesday.
The case is a reminder that investors in cryptocurrency should watch out for promises too good to be true.
Crypto, just like all asset classes, has its share of charlatans preying on the aura of a little-understood but much-hyped investment vehicle.
SEC Alleges Big-Talking Florida Crypto Investor Defrauded Clients of $6.8M
Published on Sep 30, 2020
by Coindesk | Published on Coinage
Coinage
Recent News
View All
Blockchain Bites: Bitcoin's Run, Uniswap's Hemorrhaging Value, Anchorage's Banking Bid
Bitcoin is nearing all-time highs in price and market cap last set three years ago.
Japan's megabanks to lead experiment with digital yen
We have, in order, Cheese Bank with a $3.3 million theft, Akropolis with its $2 million loss, Value DeFi with a whopping $6 million exploit and finally Origin Protocol's loss of $7 million.
Number of new Bitcoin addresses spikes amid growing FOMO
Japan's three largest banks, as part of a group of 30 private sector actors, are set to collaborate on an experiment with a digital yen.
Not just Wall Street: Quant trader explains why Bitcoin price is going up
Sam Trabucco, a quantitative trader at Alameda Research, believes four general factors are pushing up the price of Bitcoin.