A crypto trading course instructor, Brian Sewell, is now facing charges from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for allegedly misleading 15 students into investing a total of $1.2 million in a non-existent hedge fund. The SEC’s recent statement reveals that Sewell, the founder of Rockwell Capital Management, failed to launch the promised investment fund despite receiving substantial funds from students between early 2018 and mid-2019.
SEC’s take on the scam
Sewell initially resided in Hurricane, Utah, before relocating to Puerto Rico. Persuading investors with grand promises of using cutting-edge AI and machine-learning technology to generate lucrative returns. However, it turns out that these promises were nothing but a façade. The SEC’s complaint alleges that Sewell never executed the trading strategies. He had advertised to the students.
According to the SEC statement, Sewell left the students’ funds parked in Bitcoin (BTC), which eventually led to a disastrous outcome. His crypto wallet was hacked, resulting in the loss of the entire $1.2 million investment. The SEC issued a stern warning to potential scammers in the crypto industry. Expressing its commitment to taking action against those exploiting the hype surrounding technologies like AI.
The SEC stated, “Whether it’s AI, crypto, DeFi, or some other buzzword, the SEC will continue to hold accountable those who claim to use attention-grabbing technologies to attract and defraud investors.”
As part of a settlement, Rockwell Capital Management has agreed to return the $1.2 million to the investors, along with prejudgment interest amounting to approximately $402,000. Pending court approval, Sewell himself will be required to pay a civil penalty of $223,229.
Exercising caution and the border market
Following this incident, the U.S. Commodities and Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has issued a warning to crypto investors. The CFTC urges caution against exaggerated promises made by AI trading bots. Investors are advised to be aware of schemes claiming impressive returns through bots, and trade signal algorithms. Also from crypto-asset arbitrage algorithms, and other AI-assisted technologies.
In a broader context, the crypto market has been experiencing fluctuations. The global crypto market cap currently stands at $1.66 trillion, marking a 0.67% increase over the last day. However, the total crypto market volume over the last 24 hours is at 9.89%, standing at $43.5 billion. The volume of all stablecoins has dropped to 90.52% of the total crypto market 24-hour volume, now at $39.37 billion.
Bitcoin’s dominance remains at 51.10%, reflecting a slight decrease of 0.13% over the day. The CFTC is telling people to be careful about AI trading bots making big promises, and this matches the SEC’s efforts to stop fraud in the crypto industry.
