A Brooklyn-based trader was charged with securities violations Thursday for allegedly running a bitcoin Ponzi scheme, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission announced Thursday. The charges in Commodity Futures Trading Commission v. Gelfman, 17-cv-07181, were filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.
Nicholas Gelfman, CEO and head trader of Gelfman Blueprint Inc., allegedly raised $600,000 from at least 80 customers who believed they were investing in a pool fund that would employ a high-frequency algorithmic program called “Jigsaw” to trade the virtual currency, prosecutors said.
