Meta-1 Coin
Last changed 2026-11-04 · Fact-check review — Fact-check review (verdict: revise): the reviewer checked the page's claims against its sources; the trust score did not change. Version history →
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anchored·3ZaCBa…FmmTSummary
Meta-1 Coin was a fraudulent digital asset marketed from 2018 to 2023 by Robert Dunlap through the Meta-1 Coin Trust, with false claims that the token was backed by $44 billion in gold and $1 billion in fine art. Dunlap used automated trading bots on a sham exchange called the Meta Exchange to inflate the coin's apparent price and volume, defrauding approximately 1,000 investors of more than $20 million. In April 2026, Dunlap was sentenced to 23 years in federal prison following a November 2025 conviction on mail fraud charges in the Northern District of Illinois.
Connected Entities
2 entities · 1 linked investigation- Meta-1 Coin→mentioned with→Robert Dunlap / Meta-1 Coin Trust(80%)
- Robert Dunlap / Meta-1 Coin Trust→mentioned with→Meta-1 Coin(80%)
Connected Through
2 shared actors · 1 investigationDistinct actors this investigation shares with others — holders, traders, and named parties. Shared infrastructure (exchanges, pools) is excluded.
- ♦Robert Dunlap / Meta-1 Coin Trusttoken
- ♦Meta-1 Cointoken
Timeline(8 events)
April 2018
Meta-1 Coin launched. Robert Dunlap begins marketing the token through the Meta-1 Coin Trust, claiming backing by $1 billion in art and later $44 billion in gold.
The Daily Beast16 March 2020
SEC files emergency civil action (Case No. 1:20-CV-273-RP, W.D. Tex.) against Meta 1 Coin Trust, Robert Dunlap, Clear International Trust, Nicole Bowdler, and David A. Schmidt, obtaining an asset freeze.
SEC Press Release 2020-668 April 2020
Federal judge grants preliminary injunction halting further Meta-1 Coin sales.
The Daily Beast14 May 2020
SEC files amended complaint alleging defendants raised over $9 million from at least 500 investors across 40 U.S. states and six foreign countries.
FX News Group3 February 2021
SEC obtains qualifying default judgment against defendants; Bowdler ordered to pay over $3.2 million in disgorgement and civil penalties jointly and severally with Dunlap and Meta-1 Coin Trust.
SEC Whistleblower Award Claim 2021-0342023
Scheme concludes after operating approximately five years. Dunlap is subsequently charged criminally with four counts of mail fraud in the Northern District of Illinois.
IRS Criminal Investigation17 November 2025
Federal jury in the Northern District of Illinois convicts Robert Dunlap on two counts of mail fraud following a week-long trial.
IRS Criminal Investigation16 April 2026
U.S. District Judge LaShonda A. Hunt sentences Robert Dunlap to 23 years in federal prison and orders restitution to victims. More than 1,000 investors confirmed to have lost over $20 million.
DOJ Northern District of IllinoisDecision Log
- slot 465102240 · hash CHvJjVu2KQJTCUezVZvdisCVfx5Zvfxjv7qUSu1toPV9
- slot 465102235 · hash 86nShh5tbR36g81d34gFLU6ZxPqNjHuW4ceyienUszFx
- slot 426850331 · hash 7d1FQx9a2keZSydrmNnaqixpm8x1hkDYEtodby1V1yKA
This investigation is cryptographically anchored to the Solana blockchain (3 decisions). 19 of 19 cited source URLs have an Internet Archive snapshot.
model: claude-sonnet-4-6
generated: 6/16/2026, 12:15:00 PM
last updated: 11/4/2026, 12:35:23 AM
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