Digitex Founder Ordered to Pay $16M to Resolve CFTC Action – Adam Todd, the founder of crypto exchange Digitex, has been instructed by a federal court to pay nearly $16 million in order to settle allegations of operating an illegal platform and attempting to manipulate its native token, DGTX, according to a statement released by the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) on Wednesday.
This marks the CFTC’s first case involving a decentralized finance (DeFi) platform that failed to register as an exchange. A judge in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida concluded that Todd had violated multiple commodities laws while managing Digitex Futures, based in Florida. Consequently, the judge has imposed a trading ban on Todd and ordered him to pay a $12 million fine along with approximately $4 million in disgorgement.
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However, it remains uncertain whether Todd or the company possesses the necessary resources to reimburse customers. “This order resolves yet another action against an individual and digital asset exchange illegally offering futures contracts to U.S. customers,” said Ian McGinley, the CFTC’s enforcement director, in a statement.
He noted the court also found that Todd had “attempted to manipulate Digitex’s native utility token, DGTX, by allegedly ‘pumping’ the token’s price through the use of a computerized bot.” According to the website, Todd continues to be involved as a developer of Digitex Games, a platform that utilizes the DGTX token. However, he has not yet responded to a request for comment.
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