EminiFX Founder Ordered to Pay $228 million in Ponzi Scheme Restitution

- EminiFX founder Eddy Alexandre ordered to pay over $228 million in restitution for defrauding 25,000 investors. - EminiFX ruled a Ponzi scheme that falsely promised high returns with non-existent trading technology. On August 20, 2025, a New York federal judge ordered Eddy Alexandre to pay $228,576,962 in restitution. Alexandre, who founded the now-defunct crypto and forex platform EminiFX, defrauded more than 25,000 investors by luring them with false promises of unrealistic returns and non-existent trading technology. According to reports on August 20 from TradingView, Cointelegraph, and Invezz, the court held both Alexandre and EminiFX jointly liable for the restitution payments. In addition, the judge ordered Alexandre to pay $15,049,500 in disgorgement, which will be offset against any restitution paid. This civil liability accompanies his criminal case, in which he pleaded guilty to commodities fraud earlier this year. As a result of his criminal conviction, he is currently serving a nine-year prison sentence and must also pay a separate $213 million in restitution. Investigation documents revealed that while EminiFX raised over $262 million by promising high returns during an eight-month period starting in 2021, it ultimately sustained losses of at least $49 million. Additionally, Alexandre misused approximately $15 million of investor funds for personal expenses, including luxury cars and credit card payments. These findings reinforced the conclusion that EminiFX operated as a Ponzi scheme, as the company lacked any legitimate trading technology to support its claims. This case underlines a wider trend of increasing financial crime within the cryptocurrency landscape. Blockchain security firm CertiK reported that crypto-related scams, hacks, and exploits caused losses totaling $2.47 billion in the first half of 2025. This represents a 3% increase compared to the same period in 2024. Wallet compromises accounted for the largest share of these losses, with over $1.7 billion stolen across 34 incidents globally.