TLDR;
- SafeMoon CEO Braden Caroni found guilty of stealing millions from investors faces up to 45 years in prison
- Other crypto leaders like Mashinsky and Unicoin execs face serious charges as government cracks down on fraud
- SEC Chair Atkins wants clear rules, criticizing past harsh enforcement fraud prosecutions continue
Braden John Caroni, the CEO of troubled DeFi project SafeMoon, is facing a potential prison sentence of up to 45 years following his conviction on multiple charges of cryptocurrency fraud.
On Wednesday, a federal jury in New York delivered the verdict , finding Caroni guilty of conspiracy to commit securities fraud, wire fraud, and money laundering in connection with a multi-million dollar scheme that misled thousands of investors.
Guilty as Charged
The case stems from Caroni’s role in orchestrating a deceptive campaign to lure investors into SafeMoon, a once-hyped digital token that peaked with a market capitalization of $8 billion in 2021. At the time, SafeMoon gained widespread popularity by promising a novel tokenomics model that levied a 10% fee on every transaction. Investors were told that 5% of this fee would be locked permanently in a liquidity pool to protect the token’s value and ensure its long-term sustainability.
However, prosecutors revealed that the liquidity pool was anything but secure. Instead of locking the funds as promised, Caroni and his associates quietly siphoned off millions of dollars for personal gain. Through a complex web of anonymous wallets and transactions, he concealed the flow of funds and diverted over $9 million into his own accounts. These funds were reportedly used to purchase luxury items, including an Audi R8, a Tesla, and high-end real estate.
“Steered by his selfish desires and insatiable greed, Braden John Karony treated millions of dollars in investors’ funds as his own personal bank account,” stated HSI New York Acting Special Agent in Charge McCormack. “The defendant will soon be trading his sprawling real estate and luxury vehicles for a jail cell within the four walls of a federal penitentiary.
Despite his conviction, Caroni continues to maintain his innocence, posting defiant messages on social media and claiming the charges are politically motivated.
I am innocent and did not commit fraud. pic.twitter.com/nnYBdlEmgt
— John Karony (@CptHodl) May 14, 2025
Meanwhile, SafeMoon’s collapse has also ensnared other key figures. In February, the project’s former Chief Technology Officer, Thomas Smith, pleaded guilty to related charges and is awaiting sentencing. Kyle Nagy, the original founder of SafeMoon, remains a fugitive and is still wanted by U.S. authorities.
SEC Continues to Pursue Fraudsters
That said, Caroni’s verdict comes at a moment of profound regulatory transformation in the U.S. crypto landscape. SEC Chair Paul Atkins has recently signaled a policy shift from his predecessor Gary Gensler’s enforcement-heavy regime. In a conference on May 19, Atkins pledged to implement a “rational, coherent, and principled” framework for digital assets, criticizing previous SEC practices as “shoot-first-and-ask-questions-later” tactics that he says stifled innovation and created unnecessary market confusion.
Still, despite this rhetorical shift, recent events suggest the U.S. government remains committed to prosecuting those who defraud investors. The Department of Justice has not slowed its pursuit of offenders. Just earlier this month, Celsius founder Alex Mashinsky received a 12-year sentence after pleading guilty to fraud and token price manipulation that led to $4.7 billion in losses for more than 100,000 users.
This week, the SEC charged crypto firm Unicoin and three of its top executives, including CEO and board chairman Alex Konanykhin, with making false and misleading statements that helped raise over $100 million from investors.
