SafeMoon
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anchored·2JgDeq…wg16Summary
SafeMoon was a BNB Chain-based DeFi token launched in March 2021 that rapidly attracted retail investors through celebrity endorsements and social media hype, reaching a peak market capitalization of approximately $17 billion. Federal prosecutors and the SEC charged the project's founders and executives in November 2023 with securities fraud, wire fraud, and money laundering, alleging they secretly misappropriated over $200 million from the liquidity pool for personal enrichment. CEO Braden John Karony was convicted on all counts in May 2025 and sentenced to 100 months in prison in February 2026; CTO Thomas Smith pleaded guilty in February 2025; founder Kyle Nagy remained a fugitive as of early 2026.
Connected Entities
3 entities · 60 linked investigations- SafeMoon→mentioned with→Soulja Boy (DeAndre Cortez Way)(80%)
- SafeMoon→mentioned with→Binance(65%)
- Soulja Boy (DeAndre Cortez Way)→mentioned with→SafeMoon(80%)
Connected Through
3 shared actors · 504 investigationsDistinct actors this investigation shares with others — holders, traders, and named parties. Shared infrastructure (exchanges, pools) is excluded.
- □Binanceorganization
- □Soulja Boy (DeAndre Cortez Way)organization
- □SafeMoonorganization
1 submission awaiting moderator review.
Timeline(10 events)
8 March 2021
SafeMoon token launches on Binance Smart Chain with a supply of 777 trillion tokens.
SafeMoon - Wikipedia14 March 2021
SafeMoon begins a rapid appreciation phase, ultimately rising approximately 23,225% between mid-March and late April 2021, fueled by celebrity endorsements from Jake Paul, Nick Carter, Lil Yachty, Logan Paul, and others.
SafeMoon - Wikipedia20 April 2021
SafeMoon reaches peak market capitalization of approximately $17 billion.
SafeMoon - Wikipedia17 February 2022
Class-action lawsuit filed in California's Central District Court against SafeMoon LLC, Braden John Karony, Jake Paul, Nick Carter, Soulja Boy, Lil Yachty, and Ben Phillips, alleging a pump-and-dump scheme.
Jake Paul, Nick Carter, Soulja Boy, Lil Yachty Facing 'Pump and Dump' Class Action - classaction.org28 March 2023
Smart contract exploit drains approximately $8.9 million from SafeMoon's WBNB liquidity pool via a publicly accessible burn function introduced in a recent contract update.
SafeMoon 'burn' bug abused to drain $8.9 million from liquidity pool - BleepingComputerNovember 2023
DOJ unseals federal indictment and SEC files civil charges against SafeMoon LLC, Kyle Nagy, Braden John Karony, and Thomas Smith for securities fraud, wire fraud, and money laundering. Karony and Smith are arrested; Nagy remains at large.
SEC Charges Crypto Company SafeMoon and its Executive Team for Fraud - SEC.gov15 December 2023
SafeMoon US LLC files for Chapter 7 bankruptcy, with SFM token dropping approximately 42% on the announcement.
Crypto Firm SafeMoon Files for Chapter 7 Bankruptcy, SFM Plunges 42% - CoinDesk20 February 2025
Former CTO Thomas Smith pleads guilty to conspiracy to commit securities fraud and wire fraud before Magistrate Judge Cheryl Pollak, admitting to falsely representing the liquidity pool as locked.
SafeMoon CTO changes plea to guilty in $200M crypto fraud case - CoinTelegraph21 May 2025
Braden John Karony convicted by federal jury on all three counts: conspiracy to commit securities fraud, wire fraud, and money laundering, following a three-week trial in Brooklyn federal court.
SafeMoon CEO Convicted of Securities Fraud After Former CTO Testifies Against Him - CCN10 February 2026
Judge Eric Komitee sentences Karony to 100 months in prison and orders forfeiture of approximately $7.5 million plus two residential properties.
CEO of digital asset company SafeMoon sentenced to 100 months in prison - IRS Criminal InvestigationDecision Log
- slot 423161778 · hash 83ELYf9WdLUAL8DBLkLwPsXt5wLHUgq5FUGTVr31J3RV
- slot 419590294 · hash 2KQ2ofBtdtVTwQsFT6jVtMqf9WSS2gwJR1wqrzqyHMQM
- slot 419590291 · hash ALanFVW4PP4USMbShRgGznKNYtvFXyizxHDPZHx8pKoj
This investigation is cryptographically anchored to the Solana blockchain (3 decisions). 20 of 22 cited source URLs have an Internet Archive snapshot.
model: claude-code-investigator
generated: 5/4/2026, 2:54:43 AM
last updated: 5/8/2026, 2:31:04 AM
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