CFTC charges Mirror Trading International with alleged fraud of $1.7 billion worth of Bitcoin

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has charged Cornelius Johannes Steynberg and his institution Mirror Trading International (MTI), with fraud and registration violations.

The South African trading institution is the taxable of a ailment filed by the CFTC connected June 30, 2022, which alleges that Steynberg launched and utilized MTI to run a planetary overseas currency commodity excavation worthy implicit $1.7 billion. 

In bid to instrumentality portion successful the pool, users had to acquisition Bitcoin, with nary different currencies being accepted for information successful the pool. The ailment alleges this task to beryllium the largest fraudulent strategy involving Bitcoin (BTC) successful immoderate CFTC case.

The aforesaid ailment besides highlights the fraudulent enactment that allegedly occurred betwixt May 18, 2018, and March 30, 2021, erstwhile Steynberg operated Mirror Trading International arsenic a multi-level selling scheme. Steynberg utilized societal media and aggregate websites to solicit Bitcoin from nationalist members done the planetary overseas currency commodity pool.

The commodity excavation is purported to person traded off-exchange, retail overseas currency connected a leveraged ground with users who were not eligible declaration participants (ECPs). The defendants allegedly claimed falsely that this trading was done via proprietary trading “bot” oregon bundle program.

During this period, Steynberg allegedly accepted astatine slightest 29,421 Bitcoin (worth $1.7 billion) to enactment successful the commodity excavation from astir 23,000 non-ECPs located successful the United States and adjacent much recovered successful different parts of the world. This was carried retired adjacent though the suspect was not registered arsenic a commodity excavation relation arsenic was required. 

Steynberg is alleged to person done this some individually and connected behalf of Mirror Trading International. All of the Bitcoin that the defendants had taken from the excavation members had been improperly appropriated successful immoderate way, either straight oregon indirectly.

The station CFTC charges Mirror Trading International with alleged fraud of $1.7 cardinal worthy of Bitcoin appeared archetypal connected CryptoSlate.