Page 45 - 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

To generate income to pay its customers the promised returns, Ehrlich and Voyager

pooled customer assets stored on the Voyager platform and transferred billions of

dollars’ worth of customers’ digital asset commodities as “loans” to high-risk third

parties. In early 2022, following grossly inadequate due diligence, Ehrlich and Voyager

transferred over $650 million in customer digital asset commodities to Firm A (a digital

assets hedge fund) on an unsecured basis, with the understanding that Firm A would

generate returns for Voyager by pooling Voyager’s investment and trading commodity

interests. In so doing, Voyager operated the Voyager Pool and acted as a commodity

pool operator (CPO) without the required CFTC registration.

Additionally, Ehrlich did not register as an associated person of a CPO, despite

soliciting members of the public to contribute to the Voyager Pool. Based on the false

promises related to the safety of Voyager’s operations and receipt of high-yield returns,

customers often collectively stored more than $2 billion worth of digital asset

commodities on the Voyager platform. However, instead of providing a “safe haven,”

Ehrlich and Voyager transferred customer digital assets to risky counterparties, such as

Firm A, to fuel the high-yield returns used to attract and retain customers. In June 2022,

Voyager recalled its customer digital assets commodities from Firm A. Firm A defaulted

and, as a result, Voyager experienced dire operational liquidity issues. However, Ehrlich

continued to falsely assert publicly that customer assets were safe with Voyager. On

July 5, 2022, Voyager filed for bankruptcy, owing its customers in the United States

more than $1.7 billion.

Related Civil Action

In a parallel action, on October 12, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC)

separately charged Ehrlich and Voyager with violating the FTC Act and the Gramm-

Leach-Bliley Act.

https://www.cftc.gov/PressRoom/PressReleases/8805-23

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