SEC Wins $5.4 Million Judgment in NanoBit Crypto Fraud Case

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission sued on September 17, 2024, alleging that NanoBit impersonated financial professionals from September 2023 to June 2024, built trust through WhatsApp groups, falsely claimed an affiliate was an SEC-registered broker and promoted a sham initial coin offering. The platform did not actually execute trades, highlighting how relationship investment scams can use crypto assets as a pretext to steal funds.

The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York entered final default judgments against four entities and two individuals on June 16, 2026, and the SEC announced the outcome on June 29. The six defendants were ordered to pay a combined $5,519,606, or about $5.52 million, including disgorgement, prejudgment interest and civil penalties. Those involved were also accused of transferring more than $2 million to Hong Kong bank accounts and misappropriating hundreds of thousands of dollars in crypto assets.