CFTC charges head of failed crypto bank with fraud

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission charged the former head of failed crypto brokerage firm Voyager Digital with fraud and registration failures in connection with the digital asset platform.

Details: The CFTC said Stephen Ehrlich falsely touted the Voyager platform as a “safe haven” to earn high-yield returns to induce customers to purchase and store digital asset commodities. Before Voyager’s collapse last year, the FDIC and Federal Reserve issued a joint letter demanding that it cease and desist from making false and misleading statements regarding its deposit insurance status.

Stablecoin Push: In charging Voyager with operating an unregistered commodity pool, the CFTC identified one of the commodities as the USDC stablecoin, reflecting the agency’s push to include stablecoins under its purview.

FTX Hack Latest: The charges came the same day as a report suggesting Russian criminal groups were behind the unsolved $477 million hack of FTX. The report from Elliptic says significant amounts of the stolen crypto assets were combined with funds from Russia-linked criminal groups via a virtual currency mixer.

ICBA View: ICBA has repeatedly called on policymakers to ensure new policies directed at the crypto sector fully reflect its risks and to prioritize research on the specific effects of digital assets on community banks and their customers.