SEC Charges Two Firms in Alleged $130 Million Crypto-Style Fraud

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday charged two foreign-operated, Colorado-incorporated entities with carrying out what it described as a more than $130 million fraud that used false SEC filings and fake SEC-branded materials to make a crypto-style investment program appear legitimate.

In a civil enforcement action announced Oct. 29, the SEC said BG Wealth Sharing Ltd and DSJ Exchange Pty Ltd raised money from tens of thousands of retail investors in more than 40 U.S. states and multiple U.S. territories. The alleged scheme ran from at least October 2025 through June 2026, according to the agency.

The SEC said the companies marketed a “wealth-sharing program” that promised extraordinary, risk-free returns supposedly generated by crypto-trading “signals.” According to the complaint, BG Wealth falsely claimed it was the “world’s largest hedge fund,” that it was registered with the SEC as an investment adviser, and that it was partnered with DSJ Exchange, which it presented as a licensed crypto trading platform.

A central part of the alleged deception involved regulatory paperwork. The SEC said the defendants filed false Form ADV and Form D documents with the agency, then pointed investors to those filings as supposed proof that they were licensed or approved by the SEC. The agency also alleged that the entities displayed fake certificates bearing the SEC seal.

The SEC said the companies promoted the program through social media, encrypted messaging channels, weekly live videoconferences and a mobile app. To keep investors engaged, the complaint alleges, the scheme made periodic payments to some participants while misappropriating the rest of the money.

“This alleged scheme was well-planned, as evidenced by how many different communications channels the defendants chose to broadcast to their target audiences,” Laura D’Allaird, chief of the SEC Enforcement Division’s Cyber and Emerging Technologies Unit, said in the agency’s release. “From social media and encrypted messaging channels to weekly live videoconferences and a mobile app, they were determined to keep investors engaged. They further sustained the ruse by displaying fake certificates with the SEC’s seal and making periodic payments to certain investors — a Ponzi-like tactic — while misappropriating the remaining funds.”

The complaint was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. The SEC said it charged both entities with violating antifraud provisions of the Securities Act of 1933 and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. It also charged BG Wealth with violating recordkeeping and filing-related provisions of the Investment Advisers Act of 1940.

The agency said it is seeking permanent injunctions, disgorgement plus prejudgment interest, civil penalties, and conduct-based injunctions against BG Wealth. The SEC also said it has removed BG Wealth’s Form ADV and DSJ Exchange’s Form D from its website.

The federal case marks the biggest U.S. escalation so far after months of earlier warnings from state, provincial and foreign regulators. Earlier in 2026, regulators in places including Utah, Washington, Texas, Hawaii, Alberta, Saskatchewan and New Zealand issued warnings or orders tied to the alleged scheme.

Those earlier actions repeatedly stressed a point the SEC’s case now underscores: public regulatory filings are not the same as government approval. A Form ADV is a disclosure filing used by investment advisers, and a Form D is a notice filing typically used in certain exempt securities offerings. Neither means the SEC has endorsed an investment. Regulators also warned that a FinCEN money-services-business registration does not amount to SEC approval or licensing.