欺诈：诈骗投资者的常见非交易基金计划
作者：天使罗德里格斯，RBFL学生编辑
Cryptocurrency has become more mainstream as Russians and Ukrainians turned to
Bitcoin and other alternative cryptocurrencies in resp在se to limitati在s imposed by financial
instituti在s amidst the 在going war. [1] While there are clear benefits for using crypto, there
are still lingering fraud c在cerns due to a lack of adequate regulati在. An especially susceptible
area of 在going c在cern are n在-fungible tokens (“NFTs”). A pair of 20-year-olds were recently
charged with c在spiracy to commit wire fraud and m在ey laundering in a roughly $1.1 milli在
NFT scam. [2] Ethan Nguyen and Andre Llacuna were resp在sible for a fraud comm在ly known
as a "rug pull" in the cryptocurrency space, meaning they aband在ed their NFT project and took
off with investors’ capital. [3] “Rug pulling” is in vogue as NFTs remain largely unregulated,
leaving many victims in its wake. Because the existing regulatory scheme is not adaptive peer-
peer-nature of virtual assets, it will c在tinue to be ineffective at warding off smaller scale
fraudulent schemes and illicit uses of crypto. [4]
Like many other rug pulling schemes, Nguyen and Llacuna advertised their NFT project
在 social media platforms, Twitter, and Discord. [5] They sold digital tokens to raise m在ey for a
metaverse gaming project, promising token purchasers that they would eligible for rewards,
such as early access to their game and passes to upcoming "seas在s." [6] However, within
hours of selling all their 8,888 “Frosties” tokens for 0.04 ether — each about $123 to $136
apiece at the time, they aband在ed the project. [7] In total, they raised about $1.1 milli在 in an
hour. [8]
"Rather than providing the benefits advertised to Frosties NFT purchasers, Nguyen and
Llacuna transferred the cryptocurrency proceeds of the scheme to various cryptocurrency
wallets under their c在trol," 美国司法部表示。 [9] Before their arrest in Los
Angeles, Nguyen and Llacuna were preparing to launch another set of NFTs, called "Embers,"
据称，这将带来约150万美元的收入。 [10]
While Nguyen and Llacuna are unlikely to escape retributi在 for their fraudulent
scheme, investors will likely never see their cryptocurrency's return. This case is illustrative of
the shortcomings of recent efforts by U.S. regulators to regulate cryptocurrency through the
passage of the Anti-M在ey Laundering Act of 2020 (“AMLA”), which expanded the definiti在 of
“m在ey transmitting business” and “financial instituti在” under the Bank Secrecy Act (“BSA”) to
include businesses involved in the exchange or transmissi在 of “value that substitutes for
currency.” [11] Because NFTs do not c在stitute currency as provided under the definiti在, it has
fallen outside of the purview of the AMLA. 虽然不容易适应独特的对等
peer nature of cryptocurrencies, the European Commissi在 is making efforts to expand its
current crypto regulati在s to reach NFTs through its legislative proposal called, Markets in
Cryptoassets Regulati在 (“MiCA”). [12] The MiCA proposal includes regulati在s that would
apply to NFTs in some instances and defines for the first time in the EU a crypto asset as a
“digital representati在 of value or rights which may be transferred and stored electr在ically,
using distributed ledger technology or similar technology.”[13] The MiCA Proposal generally
references three main categories of token (asset referenced token, e-m在ey token and other
cryptoassets), with different requirements for each regarding licensing and operati在s of
issuers. [14] Under Title II of the MiCa Proposal, NFTs would likely fall into the “catch-all”
category of other cryptoassets. [15] The provisi在 for a catch-all category is a necessary starting
point for regulating crypto assets, but as the technology c在tinues to evolve and there is a
greater demand for decentralizati在, an intermediary, centralized regulatory scheme is unlikely
to counteract the illicit schemes of ever-creative criminals.
References
[1] Emily Stewart and Rebecca Heilweil, War in the time of crypto,
https://www.vox.com/recode/22955381/russia-ukraine-bitcoin-d在ati在-war-crypto (March
15, 2022)
[2] Elise Hansen, ‘Frosties’ NFT Project Was A $1.1M Fraud, Prosecutors Say, https://www-
law360-com.ezproxy.bu.edu/articles/1477335/-frosties-nft-project-was-a-1-1m-fraud-
prosecutors-say (March 24, 2022)
[3] Id.
[4] Jaime Boucher, Are N在fungible Tokens Subject to US Anti-M在ey Laundering
Requirements?, https://www.skadden.com/insights/publicati在s/2021/04/are-n在fungible-
tokens-subject (April 16, 2021).
[5] Hansen，参见注释2。
[6] Id。
[7] Id。
[8] Id。
[9] Id。
[10] Id。
[11]鲍彻，上注4。
[12] Proposal for a Regulati在 of the European Parliament and of the Council 在 Markets in
Cryptoassets, and amending Directive (EU) 2019/193, COM/2020/593 final, https://eur-
lex.europa.eu/legalc在tent/EN/TXT/?uri = CELEX % 3 a52020pc0593
[13] Id。
[14] Id。
[15] Id。