Movie critics would call the scheme cliched and hackneyed.
Link: SEC Charges Texas Man With Running Bitcoin-Denominated Ponzi Scheme
This week, the SEC charged McKinney, Texas-based Trendon T. Shavers with defrauding investors in a Ponzi scheme involving Bitcoin. He may have raised more than $4.5 million in the scheme, but due to the Bitcoin-denominated transactions and vague SEC release, it is hard to tell. The SEC also says that in more recent dollars, the 700,000 Bitcoin raised exceeds $60 million, which screams “We Want Headlines!!!!” to me.
Shavers’ vehicle was called Bitcoin Savings and Trust and he used the names “Pirate” and “pirateat40” to sell his dirty wares. Despite the scary name, Shavers is probably just a Jimmy Buffet fan.
Jimmy Buffet, A Pirate Looks At Forty
The SEC claims Shavers claimed that investors would have no risk and huge profits over the Internet. It appears that Shavers took in Bitcoin investments and then sent them out in withdrawals and interest payments while losing money in his investments and siphoning off funds for himself. This is classic Ponzi scheme. Nothing new or notable other than the Bitcoin angle, which isn’t that interesting considering other schemes that are far more imaginative.