SEC sues Privvy founder over $12.3 million crypto scheme as AI ‘bots’ turn out to be neither
Compiled by KHAO Editorial — aggregated from 3 sources + 3 references discovered via search. See llms.txt for citation guidance.
✓ KHAO Verified
The SEC charged a Cypress, Texas resident with running a $12.3 million crypto fraud scheme that leaned on fake AI trading bots, in a complaint filed Thursday in federal court in Houston.
Key facts
- Instead, the SEC alleges, Fuller misappropriated at least $6.2 million on a roughly $1 million house, gambling, trading cards, travel and a Jeep, and routed about $5.5 million back to earlier
- Nathan Fuller, the founder and sole member of Privvy Investments LLC, raised the money from about 150 investors across nine states and two foreign countries between October 2022 and mid-2024
- Fuller told investors that proprietary AI-based bots autonomously scanned crypto trading platforms to capture small price gaps through high-frequency arbitrage, promising returns of 40% to 50%
- It also follows the SEC's December action against a network of fake crypto platforms and "AI investment clubs" accused of a $14 million scam, part of a wider run of fraud cases pairing AI branding
Summary
Nathan Fuller, the founder and sole member of Privvy Investments LLC, raised the money from about 150 investors across nine states and two foreign countries between October 2022 and mid-2024, the agency said. Fuller told investors that proprietary AI-based bots autonomously scanned crypto trading platforms to capture small price gaps through high-frequency arbitrage, promising returns of 40% to 50% within 30 to 45 days, according to the SEC. Instead, the SEC alleges, Fuller misappropriated at least $6.2 million on a roughly $1 million house, gambling, trading cards, travel and a Jeep, and routed about $5.5 million back to earlier investors in Ponzi-like payments.