A Canadian has been charged with large-scale crypto fraud using Discord.
Date: 2025-12-12 Author: Gabriel Deangelo Categories: IN WORLD
US prosecutors have unsealed charges against 26-year-old Canadian citizen Nathan Gauvin, who is believed to be the mastermind behind the massive fraudulent scheme. Investigators allege that he and his accomplices created the guise of a legitimate investment company on Discord, luring users with promises of profits in the TradFi and DeFi sectors. The total amount of funds received exceeded $42 million.
The case documents state that investors were persuaded to invest in a company called Gray Digital Capital Management Inc. and a fund allegedly associated with it, the Gray Fund. These projects were presented as investment platforms combining traditional financial instruments with DeFi solutions. According to prosecutors, Gauvin provided potential investors with falsified reports regarding income, company assets, and his own professional experience, attempting to create the impression of successful investment activity.
As evidence, he presented fake bank and brokerage statements. Among other things, one document claimed that the fund's returns reached 4384%—figures that bear no resemblance to actual market results.
Gauvin gained particular popularity on Discord, where he positioned himself as an independent analyst. He later registered another company, Blackridge LLC, claiming to manage over $1 billion in assets, although he was only 22 years old at the time of these allegations. The US SEC subsequently confirmed that all of these claims were false.
The investigation also revealed that, instead of investing the funds in the stated projects, the suspect used most of the proceeds to pay off previous participants in the scheme, effectively turning it into a Ponzi scheme. According to investigators, he spent the remaining funds on luxury purchases, jewelry, and personal expenses, including credit card payments.
Furthermore, prosecutors allege Gauvin attempted to obstruct regulators by submitting false documents to the SEC. In May and June 2025, he also misled a New York fintech company to obtain an $800,000 loan from FDIC-insured banks, and redirected some of the funds to personal expenses, including membership in a private London club.
On December 10, he was detained in the UK at the request of the US. US Attorney General Joseph Nocella noted that the structures Gauvin created were a "house of cards" that existed solely thanks to lies and investor funds.
Similar schemes have previously been reported, including the guilty plea of the head of Praetorian Group International to fraud amounting to approximately $200 million.
