How wire fraud, not securities violations, lands crypto criminals in prison
To combat crypto crime in the United States, industry participants often turn to securities regulation and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). But when it comes to cracking down on bad actors, the Department of Justice’s emerging playbook seems to have a far greater success rate. Wire fraud , hailed as the “most powerful law in crypto ” by Reuters, proves effective as charges aren’t contingent on the securities classification of crypto assets. The SEC can handle civil charges and dish out fines, but it doesn’t have the power to bring criminal charges against individuals — but the state attorney generals and the DoJ can. The DoJ has already used wire fraud to land dozens of crypto’s bad actors in prison. Wire fraud is the most common criminal charge against crypto promoters. Here, ‘wire’ relates to interstate wire communications, not bank wires. Wire fraudsters use telecommunications or the internet to defraud victims ...
