SEC, CFTC Sue Goliath Ventures Over $400M Crypto Ponzi Scheme

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission have filed separate civil lawsuits against Goliath Ventures and its founder, Christopher Delgado, alleging they orchestrated a cryptocurrency Ponzi scheme that defrauded investors of hundreds of millions of dollars. The actions, announced on August 11, 2026, build on a criminal case in which Delgado has already pleaded guilty.

The SEC’s complaint alleges Goliath raised at least $425 million from more than 1,300 investors through an unregistered securities offering. Investors were told their funds would be placed in crypto liquidity pools to generate monthly returns of 3% to 10%, with their principal guaranteed. However, the agency claims no funds or crypto assets were actually invested as promised. Instead, the SEC alleges Delgado diverted at least $51 million for personal use and the company used money from new and existing investors to pay earlier participants, fabricating account balances and performance metrics to sustain the scheme. The SEC states that by November 2025, Goliath could no longer raise funds quickly enough to meet its obligations, stopped making distributions, and collapsed.