Class Action Sues JPMorgan Over $328M Crypto Ponzi Scheme

A federal class action lawsuit filed this week in California accuses JPMorgan Chase of enabling a $328 million cryptocurrency Ponzi scheme that defrauded more than 2,000 investors, including a lead plaintiff who lost $650,000 from his retirement savings.

The suit, brought by investor Robby Alan Steele on behalf of affected individuals nationwide, claims the bank provided critical financial infrastructure for Goliath Ventures, a Florida-based firm that operated the fraud from January 2023 to January 2026. According to the complaint, JPMorgan served as the primary banking institution for Goliath during much of the scheme's run, processing approximately $253 million in deposits through a single account between January 2023 and mid-2025. Of that amount, about $123 million was transferred to cryptocurrency wallets at Coinbase, while roughly $50 million went to earlier investors as purported returns.

Goliath Ventures, originally known as GenZ Venture Firm, promoted investments in Bitcoin, Ethereum, and USD Coin liquidity pools, promising guaranteed monthly returns of around 4 percent. Prosecutors allege the operation, led by CEO Christopher Alexander Delgado, collected funds under...