Page 44 - 期货和衍生品行业监管动态（2023年10月刊）

期货和衍生品行业监管动态

failures in connection with the Voyager digital asset platform and Voyager’s operation

of an unregistered commodity pool. Ehrlich and Voyager falsely touted the Voyager

platform as a “safe haven” to earn high-yield returns to induce customers to purchase

and store digital asset commodities.

In its continuing litigation against Ehrlich, the CFTC seeks restitution,

disgorgement, civil monetary penalties, permanent trading and registration bans, and a

permanent injunction against further violations of the Commodity Exchange Act (CEA)

and CFTC regulations, as charged.

“This is yet another CFTC action seeking to hold accountable a chief executive

officer for his role in the fraudulent operation of a digital asset platform,” said Director

of Enforcement Ian McGinley. “Ehrlich and Voyager lied to Voyager customers. While

representing they would treat customers’ digital asset commodities safely and

responsibly, behind the scenes, they took shockingly reckless risks with their customers’

assets, leading to Voyager’s bankruptcy and huge customer losses. When their business
began to collapse, they continued lying to their customers, concealing Voyager’s true

financial health. Amplifying their fraud, Ehrlich and Voyager broke their trust with

customers while acting in capacities that required CFTC registration, which they failed

to obtain.”

Case Background

The complaint alleges, from at least February 2022 through July 2022, Ehrlich and

Voyager engaged in a scheme to defraud customers by misrepresenting the safety and

financial health of the Voyager digital asset platform. Ehrlich and Voyager, via publicly

available postings on social media and their website, touted Voyager as a “safe haven”

for customers’ digital assets in an otherwise volatile market environment and that

Voyager would operate with the “same level of rigor and trust” as a traditional financial

institution. Ehrlich and Voyager also promised customers high-yield returns—as much

as 12%—on certain digital asset commodities stored on the Voyager platform.

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