Three years and some unforgettable memes subsequently, the Securities and Exchange Commission has announced that 5 individuals volition face charges relating to promoting the Bitconnect Ponzi scheme.

"The SEC's complaint alleges that these promoters offered and sold the securities without registering the securities offering with the Commission, and without being registered as broker-dealers with the Committee, equally required by the federal securities laws," the release reads.

The promoters, including Trevon Brown, Craig Grant, Ryan Maasen, and Michael Noble are said to have "advertised the claim of investing in BitConnect'due south lending programme to prospective investors, including by creating "testimonial" style videos and publishing them on YouTube, sometimes multiple times a mean solar day." In exchange for their promotional efforts, the influencers and representatives were paid on a committee basis.

The release also named Joshua Jeppesen as "a liaison between BitConnect and promoters."

Shortly subsequently the release, Trevon Brown (better known as Trevon James) posted a Tweet in which he did not deny the charges and said that the community would "rally" effectually him.

"Nosotros volition seek to hold answerable those who illegally turn a profit by capitalizing on the public's interest in digital assets," said Lara Shalov Mehraban, Associate Regional Director of SEC'south New York Regional Office in the release.

The company, which complanate in 2022, was widely accused on being a ponzi scheme from several analysts and observers, including Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin. Last yr, an Australian homo was charged in connexion with the company's fraud. Many will be familiar with the project due to a now-legendary presentation from investor Carlos Matos:

Multiple crypto lawyers have taken to Twitter to speculate on the long-term ramifications of this instance. Gabriel Shapiro noted that even though the SEC is targeting a known fraud in Bitconnect, information technology could cease upwards beingness a "blueprint" for action against other DAOs.