$18M Recovered from Crypto Ponzi

The regulators of the United States are termed to be crucial in shaping the broader crypto market. Most of the time, the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity and Futures Trading Commission remain in the spotlight because of their harsh actions over the digital asset market. 

According to a recent press release of the CFTC, it has recovered approximately $18 Million in cryptocurrencies from a commodity pool Ponzi scheme. Sam Ikkurty, an Orgenon resident, and Jafia allegedly ran the suspected crypto hedge fund.

Sam promised the investors to pay huge returns in exchange for their investment, but the fund’s value fell around 99 percent in just a few months. He did not succeed in returning funds or informing investors about the losses; he also falsely claimed to be skilled in activities related to digital assets.  

In the final verdict, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois Judge Mary Rowland ordered Sam and the other accused to pay a penalty of $209 Million. 

The imposed penalties include $84 Million in repayment to the victim customers, $110 Million in fines, and a remaining $37 Million for illegal gains. The court separately fined Sam for disobeying the court orders. 

Enforcement Director of CFTC, Ian McGinley, stated, “The defendants portrayed their programs as cutting-edge crypto and carbon investments when in reality they were plain, old-fashioned Ponzi schemes.” he adds, “CFTC staff not only shut down the defendants’ fraudulent schemes and obtained a money judgement of over $200 Million, they also recovered more than $18 Million in stolen digital assets that may otherwise have been lost forever.” 

CFTC’s Historic Crack Down

At the beginning of August 2024, the Commodity Futures and Trading Commission made history by ordering FTX and its sister company to pay $12.7 Billion in monetary relief.  

FTX was ruling the centralized exchanges category before its unprecedented collapse. As per the broader claims, the leaked balance sheet led to the transition in market sentiments, ultimately leading to its bankruptcy.    

Once the third-largest centralized cryptocurrency exchange filed for bankruptcy in late 2022, the sudden crash in its native token price led to losses of Billions. 

Crypto Market Price Update 

In the past 24 hours, massive selling pressure has been seen troubling the border market; when writing, the market capitalization was $1.98 Trillion, with a decline of 4.21% intraday. 

Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, Dogecoin, Tron, Toncoin, Brett, and Fantom are some major intraday losers. When writing Bitcoin, the price was below 20, 50, 100, and 200 days EMA (exponential moving average) at $56,453. 

The fear and greed index powered by CoinMarketCap is at 31, reflecting fear in the market sentiment. However, the entire stablecoins market capitalization remains unaffected despite severe bear dominance and outflow.