The CFTC disclosed today that, on January 16, in a case initially filed under seal, the CFTC sued and froze the assets of the creators of a supposed cryptocurrency called “My Big Coin” who allegedly took $6 million from unwitting buyers and used it to fund shopping sprees and pay off earlier investors. My Big Coin Pay Inc. — a Nevada corporation whose product, the CFTC noted, sounded similar to Bitcoin — its founder Randall Crater, and salesman Mark Gillespie were accused of fleecing at least 28 people out of $6 million between 2014 and last June. The government says My Big Coin Pay and its backers claimed their currency could be used wherever MasterCard was accepted, that it was backed by gold and that there was a genuine market for it, but none of that was true. The “currency” wasn’t actually traded on any major exchange and its prices were made up, the stated. Together with the two cases we recently reported on, this shows that CFTC has become more active in its enforcement efforts.
Further CFTC Enforcement
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David Zaslowsky is partner in the Litigation Department of Baker McKenzie's New York office. He helps companies solve complex commercial disputes in arbitration and litigation, especially those involving cross-border issues and Section 1782 discovery. David has a degree in computer science and, as a result, has worked on numerous technology-related disputes, including, most recently, those involving blockchain and artificial intelligence. In April 2025, Attorney Intel named David one of the top 25 blockchain lawyers in the country. He is the editor of the Firm's blockchain blog and co-editor of the firm's International Litigation & Arbitration Newsletter. David has been included for a number of years in the Chambers USA Guide and Chambers Global Guide for his expertise in international arbitration. He also sits as an arbitrator and is on the roster of arbitrators for a number of arbitral institutions. David sits on the Board and chairs the governance committee of the New York International Arbitration Center, and is a founding member of the International Arbitration Club of New York. For over 35 years, he has written and spoken often on the subjects of arbitration and international litigation.