Nikolas Sargeant
Braden John Karony, the former CEO of cryptocurrency firm SafeMoon, was convicted on May 21, 2025, by a jury in the US District Court for the Eastern District of New York. The charges included conspiracy to defraud the United States, money laundering, and wire fraud. The trial lasted approximately two weeks, during which Karony maintained his innocence, claiming he did not commit fraud.
The case revolved around allegations that Karony, along with SafeMoon's creator Kyle Nagy and former CTO Thomas Smith, misappropriated millions of dollars' worth of SafeMoon's SFM token. The executives were accused of diverting funds that were supposed to be "locked" in liquidity pools, using them for personal expenses such as luxury vehicles and real estate.
Smith, who testified against Karony during the trial, had previously pleaded guilty to charges related to the scheme. Nagy, who reportedly fled to Russia after the charges were filed, remains at large.
Following a Conviction in the Celsius Case
The conviction marks a significant development in the ongoing scrutiny of cryptocurrency executives and their legal responsibilities.
Alex Mashinsky, the founder and former CEO of Celsius Network, has been sentenced to 12 years in federal prison for orchestrating a massive crypto fraud scheme that misled hundreds of thousands of investors. Under his leadership, Celsius falsely promised high-yield, low-risk returns while secretly making unsecured loans and manipulating the value of its CEL token for personal gain.
At its peak, the platform managed over $25 billion in assets before collapsing in 2022, leaving a $1.2 billion hole in its balance sheet. In addition to the prison sentence, Mashinsky must forfeit more than $48 million, marking one of the harshest punishments yet in the wake of the crypto industry's 2022 meltdown.
Sentencing for Karony is pending, and he faces the possibility of a lengthy prison term.
