New York Attorney General Letitia James has expanded the state’s lawsuit against Digital Currency Group (DCG) and tripled the estimated size of alleged fraud to more than $3 billion.
Digital Currency Group Accused Of Defrauding Investors
The amended complaint, filed by Attorney General James, accuses Digital Currency Group, DCG’s CEO Barry Silbert, and the bankrupt crypto lender Genesis Global Capital of defrauding additional individuals and institutions of an additional $2 billion.
The lawsuit stems from an initial suit filed in October 2023, where Gemini, Genesis, and Digital Currency Group were accused of misleading representations to investors about an investment program called Gemini Earn, resulting in over $1 billion in losses.
Following continued investigations, the New York Attorney General’s office alleged that more investors had been defrauded, leading to the expanded lawsuit.
According to Attorney General James, the investigation revealed that these additional investors were provided with “false assurances” of the safety of their funds, resulting in substantial losses. The total number of defrauded investors is estimated to exceed 230,000.
Attorney General James emphasized the need for stronger cryptocurrency regulations to protect all investors, stating:
After months of false promises, we pulled the curtain back and revealed that DCG was lying to investors and defrauding them out of billions. The fraud and deceit were so expansive that many additional people have come forward to report similar harm. This illegal cryptocurrency scheme, and the horrific financial losses that real people have suffered, are yet another reminder of why stronger cryptocurrency regulations are needed to protect all investors.
NYAG’s Crackdown On Cryptocurrency Scams
Attorney General James has taken several actions in recent years to rein in the cryptocurrency industry and allegedly safeguard investors.
These actions include recovering funds from non-compliant platforms such as CoinEx and Coin Cafe, recovering millions from Nexo’s cryptocurrency platform, and securing court judgments against Coinseed and GTV Media for their alleged fraudulent practices.
Attorney General James’s amended complaint against Digital Currency Group and Genesis represents another significant step in her crackdown and enforcement actions against embattled crypto companies that prosecutors allege have defrauded investors.
Specifically, according to the statement released on Friday, the lawsuit seeks more than $3 billion in restitution from Digital Currency Group.
As the case progresses, the outcome will have implications for the parties involved and the broader cryptocurrency industry. It remains to be seen how the accused crypto companies will respond to the allegations and the increased scope of the alleged fraud by the Attorney General’s allegations in the case.
As of the current update, the total market capitalization of the cryptocurrency market has surpassed the previous consolidation phase and is steadily approaching its two-year high of $1.8 trillion.
The market capitalization is currently valued at $1.734 trillion, reflecting a significant surge of over 3% within the past 24 hours. This notable increase in value indicates the resurgence of bullish sentiment that has recently swept through the industry.
Featured image from Shutterstock, chart from TradingView.com
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