The FTC lawsuit focuses on Voyager's claims suggesting to customers that accounts with the lender were FDIC insured. That complaint also names Voyager as a defendant. Voyager settled with the FTC, agreeing to pay a $1.65 billion judgment that will be suspended until customers are repaid.
CFTC and FTC sue Voyager CEO Stephen Ehrlich
Simultaneous civil lawsuits from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and Federal Trade Commission (FTC) against former CEO of the collapsed Voyager crypto lender accuse him of fraud and making deceptive claims to customers.
- "CFTC Charges Former Chief Executive Officer of Digital Asset Platform with Fraud in Massive Commodity Pool Scheme", CFTC press release [archive]
- "FTC Reaches Settlement with Crypto Company Voyager Digital; Charges Former Executive with Falsely Claiming Consumers' Deposits Were Insured by FDIC", FTC press release [archive]
- "CFTC and FTC sue former CEO of bankrupt crypto lender Voyager", BlockWorks [archive]
- "Voyager Ex-CEO Charged by U.S. Regulators With Fraud, Making False Claims", CoinDesk [archive]
FDIC demands CEX.io stop claiming it's FDIC-insured
The FDIC is continuing its recent crackdown on exchanges claiming they're protected by FDIC insurance, issuing a cease-and-desist to CEX.io. CEX.io, like several other crypto companies including Voyager, FTX US, and Gemini, made claims referring to FDIC insurance that suggested that customer funds might be protected from issues at the company in a similar way that banking customers are protected from bank failures.
Many of these companies have taken the (true) statement that the company's insured depository accounts at various banking institutions are FDIC insured and presented it to customers in a misleading way, and the FDIC wants them to cut it out. The FDIC also demanded websites who published statements like "Is CEX.io Safe? Yes, Cex.io is a safe crypto exchange. Actually, one of the safest on the market since they are FDIC insured..." take them down.
CEX.io is a London-based cryptocurrency exchange with comparatively low trading volume compared to its larger competitors like Binance or Coinbase.
- "FDIC Demands Four Entities Cease Making False or Misleading Representations about Deposit Insurance", Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
New York regulator investigates Gemini over FDIC claims
The embattled Gemini crypto exchange, which is has $900 million of customer funds locked up in the Genesis bankruptcy and has been charged by the SEC for offering unregistered securities, now has another problem to add to its list. The New York State Department of Financial Services, which is responsible for regulating the exchange portion of Gemini's business, is reportedly looking into whether Gemini misled customers that their funds were protected by FDIC insurance — that is, the insurance typically known for protecting funds placed into accounts with actual banks.
When concerned customers contacted Gemini customer support to ask if their funds were safe at Gemini, in the wake of the collapses throughout the crypto industry, they were reassured by customer support that the fiat currency held by Gemini to back their GUSD stablecoin was held in accounts that were eligible for FDIC insurance. Some customers took this to mean that their holdings with Gemini were safe and protected from the possibility of trouble at Gemini: something they've now discovered was not the case, as customers of Gemini's Earn program cannot withdraw their funds.
Cryptocurrency companies misleading or outright lying to customers about FDIC insurance has been something of a trend this year. In July, the Federal Reserve and FDIC sent a cease-and-desist letter to the bankrupt Voyager cryptocurrency broker, demanding they stop claiming that their USD-denominated funds at the company were protected by FDIC insurance (they weren't). Several weeks later, the FDIC sent a similar letter to FTX US, also demanding they stop making misleading statements about deposit insurance.
The FDIC sends cease and desist letters to FTX US and other entities who claim their products are insured
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) sent cease and desist notices to the FTX US crypto exchange and four websites that they allege are falsely claiming their products are FDIC-insured. Most people are familiar with FDIC insurance because it covers up to $250,000 per account with federally regulated banks, but crypto companies enjoy no such protections.
In July, the FDIC and Federal Reserve sent a cease and desist to Voyager, a company currently undergoing bankruptcy proceedings, which drew in customers with false promises that USD entrusted to the company were safe from any potential Voyager collapse thanks to FDIC insurance.
Regulators order Voyager to stop saying they're FDIC insured
One of the ways Voyager Digital drew in customers was by promising that their funds in USD were protected from a collapse of the company by FDIC deposit insurance, which normally applies to bank accounts. When Voyager declared bankruptcy earlier this month, some of their customers were horrified to discover this was not the case.
The Federal Reserve and the FDIC sent a cease-and-desist to Voyager, asking them to remove the misleading statements about deposit insurance. It would have been nice if this had come a bit earlier — perhaps before people had deposited money into accounts with the company and could no longer get it out.