A cryptocurrency scammer named “Coin Signals” was ordered by the U. S. District Court for the Southern District of New York to pay $2.8 million in restitution to victims of a fraudulent scheme.
The order ends Jeremy Spence’s involvement in a case brought by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. Spence, who earlier this year pleaded guilty to operating a Ponzi scheme in which he encouraged people to invest in digital assets like bitcoin and ether from December 2017 through April 2019, resolved the case.
“Spence’s solicitations-which, as described below, were rife with fraud, lies, and deceit-were successful,” the court’s consent order read. “During the Relevant Period, Spence obtained virtual currencies such as bitcoin and ether worth more than approximately $5 million at the time from individual customers comprising approximately 175 user accounts.”
In May of this year, Jeremy Spence was already given a 42-month prison term.
In a statement in response to the order, CFTC Commissioner Kristin Johnson applauded the agency’s enforcement efforts but argued that it required broader regulatory authority. She stated that “currently, our visibility into digital trading markets is limited” due to a regulatory gap.
Johnson’s comments come as the CFTC, which is governed by the Senate Agriculture Committee, works to advance legislation that would provide it greater direct reporting from cryptocurrency commodities exchanges. This process has grown more complicated after the collapse of cryptocurrency exchange FTX. LedgerX, the organization within the FTX business network that the CFTC does directly supervise, has remained stable, as Johnson emphasized weeks ago to defend her organization. Rostin Behnam, chair of the CFTC, spoke before the Senate Agriculture Committee on the same topic on December 1 as well.
