Commodity Futures Trading Commission wins consent order requiring USD 7.6 million restitution and a permanent trading and registration ban for My Big Coin fraud

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission announced that the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts entered a consent order against Randall Crater, requiring more than USD 7.6 million in restitution to victims of his digital asset fraud scheme and imposing a permanent injunction that bars him from CFTC-regulated trading, commodity interest and digital asset commodity transactions, and CFTC registration. The order found that from at least January 2014 through January 2018, Crater and others operated a scheme marketing “My Big Coin” as a fully functioning virtual currency, obtaining more than USD 7.6 million from at least 28 customers through false and misleading claims and omissions about the asset’s value, use and trade status, including representations that it was backed by gold. The consent order resolves the CFTC’s claims against Crater, while the enforcement action remains pending against other named defendants. Restitution is subject to a dollar-for-dollar credit for payments made to victims under restitution ordered in a parallel criminal action arising from the same conduct.