ChainCatcher news, according to CoinDesk, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has filed charges against 3 individuals and 5 companies, accusing them of operating a "pig butchering" scam. Such scams gain the trust of victims through social media applications, luring them into investing in fake cryptocurrency platforms before absconding with their funds. This is the SEC's first enforcement action against this type of cryptocurrency scam. The SEC alleges that the NanoBit platform defrauded at least 18 investors of nearly $1 million through a fraudulent cryptocurrency ecosystem, while another platform, CoinW6, deceived at least 11 investors out of a total of $2.2 million. The SEC warns the public to be vigilant about investment opportunities promoted on social media.

ChainCatcher news, the SEC announced charges against Cynthia Petion and Eddy Petion, as well as their company NovaTech Ltd., accusing them of implementing a fraudulent scheme that raised over $650 million in crypto assets from more than 200,000 investors worldwide, including many investors from the Haitian-American community. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission also charged Martin Zizi, Dapilinu Dunbar, James Corbett, Corrie Sampson, John Garofano, and Marsha Hadley with promoting NovaTech to investors.According to the SEC's charges, from 2019 to 2023, the Petions operated NovaTech as a multi-level marketing (MLM) and crypto asset investment project. They claimed that NovaTech would invest investors' funds in crypto assets and the foreign exchange market to entice investors. Cynthia Petion assured investors that their investments would be safe and promised, "In this project, you can profit from day one because you can get this money back again."In reality, NovaTech used most of the investors' funds to pay existing investors and to pay commissions to promoters, using only a small portion of investors' funds for trading. The complaints also allege that the Petions misappropriated millions of dollars in investor assets. The complaint states that when NovaTech eventually collapsed, most investors were unable to withdraw their investments, resulting in significant losses.

ChainCatcher News, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission announced that it has charged Meta Materials Inc. and its former CEO with market manipulation, fraud, and other illegal activities.The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission today filed charges against Meta Materials Inc. and its former CEOs John Brda and George Palikaras. The company has agreed to resolve the SEC's charges in an administrative proceeding, while the SEC's lawsuit against Brda and Palikaras will proceed in federal district court.In a complaint filed in the Southern District of New York federal district court, the SEC alleges that Brda and Palikaras orchestrated and executed a manipulation scheme, which included the immediate issuance of preferred stock dividends prior to a merger. The complaint alleges that Brda and Palikaras informed certain investors and advisors and hinted through social media that the dividend would force short sellers to exit their positions and trigger a "short squeeze," artificially inflating the price of the company's common stock.