Things are moving fast in the metaverse – and in the wider world of web3 as a whole. Depending on who you ask, this futuristic, blockchain-based space is either the next big thing for marketing (and for almost everything else) or an overhyped fad. Here’s what you need to know from this past week…
11 charged by SEC in $300m ‘crypto pyramid and Ponzi scheme’
The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has charged 11 people for promoting an international “fraudulent crypto pyramid and Ponzi scheme,“ per a statement released by the agency on Monday. The agency says that the scheme, called Forsage, “raised more than $300m from millions of retail investors worldwide, including in the United States”. Among the individuals who have been charged are Forsage’s four founders, whom the SEC says were last known to be living in Russia, the Republic of Georgia and Indonesia. Three US-based Forsage promoters “and several members of the so-called Crypto Crusaders, the largest promotional group for the scheme that operated in the United States from at least five different states,” have also been charged.
Forsage.io was reportedly launched in January 2020 as a platform that enabled retail investors to enter into transactions using smart contracts. The SEC says “Forsage has allegedly operated as a pyramid scheme for more than two years,” allowing investors to…
