SEC Files Charges Against Bitcoin Ponzi Mastermind Trendon Shavers

Charles Ponzi. Trendon Shavers, aka "Pirate@40," was arrested this morning on securities fraud and wire fraud charges stemming from his involvement in a Bitcoin-related Ponzi scheme. A Ponzi scheme is a fraudulent investment operation where the operator pays returns to its investors from new capital paid by new investors, rather than from profit earned. The scheme is named after Charles Ponzi, who became notorious for using the technique in 1920. Shavers was the founder and operator of Bitcoin Savings and Trust (BCS&T), which offered and sold Bitcoin-based investments through the Internet.....

Bitcoin Savings & Trust (BS&T) operator Trendon Shavers has plead not guilty to fraud charges in a New York District court. If convicted, Shavers faces up to 40 years in prison, as well as millions of dollars in potential fines and penalties. Shavers is charged with one count of securities fraud and one count of wire fraud. The prosecution alleges that Shavers promised outsized returns to investors but in reality operated a Ponzi scheme by paying early investors with the proceeds from new ones. Shavers, who operated under the username pirateat40, solicited investors for BS&T during 2011....

Texas man Trendon Shavers has finally admitted that he indeed was the brain behind Bitcoin Ponzi scheme named Bitcoin Savings and Trust (BTCST). As per a report by the Wall Street Journal, the entire racket was so big that at a certain time it actually had 7 percent digital currency in circulation under its grasp. This case had taken the Bitcoin community by the storm, but now, as per the plea agreement, Trendon will not face the second charge of wire fraud. Trendon T. Shavers, whose online name was pirateat40, is now going to hear his sentence being read out on Feb. 3. We had earlier....

Trendon Shavers, the person convicted of operating a Bitcoin Ponzi scheme through Bitcoin Savings & Trust receives 18 month prison sentence. The person behind the first ever Bitcoin securities fraud in the United States is going to spend the next 18 months in prison. Trendon Shavers, the founder of Bitcoin Savings and Trust, a proven ponzi company, was convicted for luring people into investing 764,000 bitcoins (~$4.5 million at the time of investment) with the promise of 7% weekly returns. He later disappeared with the raised sum, reportedly spending it to pay early investors, and for....

Trendon Shavers earned a lenient sentence through good faith efforts to right the wrongs he did while improperly managing the Bitcoin Savings & Trust, Bitcoin’s first federal securities case, according to his sentencing judge. That’s news the Bitcoin Community, which has long viewed Shavers as a no more than a fraudster, likely won’t heed. Bitcoin Savings & Trust, initially called First Pirate Savings & Trust, ultimately stripped investors of $4.5 million. Shavers faced 40 years in prison before a plea deal brought his maximum sentence to 41 months. Shavers’ $4.5 million ponzi....