The U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts has ordered Randall Crater, the creator of the bitcoin enterprise “My Big Coin,” to pay over $7.6 million in reparations to victims of his bogus digital asset scheme. Additionally included in the court decision is a permanent ban on Crater from participating in any transactions involving digital asset commodities and other CFTC-regulated exchanges.
Between 2014 and 2017, Crater engaged in fraudulent behavior whereby he misled investors about his cryptocurrency, My Big Coin. He said it could be turned into government-backed fiat money or other cryptocurrencies and was supported by gold. Investors lost more than $7.5 million via the program, which Crater used to buy luxury goods including art, automobiles, and a house.
Apart from the civil fines, Crater was sentenced to more than eight years in prison on convictions of wire fraud, running an illegal money-transmitting company, and other offenses. Although the restitution order was granted, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) cautioned that it is yet unknown how the offenders will be able to reimburse the lost money. The CFTC keeps working to defend investors and punish dishonest players responsible.
