Randall Crater was ordered to pay $7.6 million in restitution for a crypto fraud scheme involving My Big Coin Pay, Inc. The CFTC also banned him from trading, as authorities warn of rising cryptocurrency-related fraud.
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) stated on Feb. 10, 2025, that Randall Crater of Heathrow, Florida, has been given a consent order by the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts. This order says he must pay over $7.6 million to people who were scammed in a crypto scheme.
The order says that Crater can’t trade in markets regulated by the CFTC, buy or sell digital assets, or register with the agency for any reason.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts sentenced Crater to more than eight years in prison on January 31, 2023. He had been found guilty in July 2022 of four counts of wire fraud, three counts of illegal money transactions, and one count of running a money-transfer business without a license.
It was found in a sealed indictment that Crater took part in a scam involving digital assets under the name “My Big Coin Pay, Inc.” Between 2014 and 2017, he and others tricked investors into buying a fake digital currency by saying it was backed by gold and could be exchanged for cash and other digital assets.
Investors gave Crater more than $7.5 million, which it used to buy expensive things like a house, cars, art, antiques, jewelry, and more.
According to the FBI, theft involving cryptocurrencies cost the U.S. $5.6 billion in 2023, which is 45% more than in 2022. With over 69,000 complaints about cryptocurrency, investment fraud was still the most common type of scam.
Chainalysis said on January 15, 2025, that illegal behavior on the blockchain has become more complex, with cryptocurrency being used to pay for threats ranging from fraud to national security.
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has warned people to be on the lookout for crypto scams. Demands for payment only in cryptocurrency, claims of guaranteed profits, and requests for money through dating apps are all red flags. The government says not to use words like “make lots of money” or “zero risk.”
