The Securities and Exchange Commission filed a civil enforcement action on May 28, 2026, against Nathan Fuller, a resident of Cypress, Texas, and his company Privvy Investments LLC, alleging a fraudulent crypto-investment scheme that raised approximately $12.3 million from roughly 150 investors across nine U.S. states and two foreign countries. The complaint, lodged in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas, charges Fuller with violating the registration and antifraud provisions of the Securities Act of 1933 and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.
According to the SEC's filing, Fuller marketed a high-frequency arbitrage strategy that he claimed was executed by proprietary artificial-intelligence trading bots. He allegedly told investors the bots would buy and sell cryptocurrencies across multiple platforms to capture price discrepancies, delivering guaranteed profits exceeding 100% within 21 days, with losses capped at 3% through automated stop-loss code. The SEC asserts that the bots either did not function as described or lacked any meaningful AI or stop-loss capability. Of the $12.3 million raised, only about $380,000—roughly 3%—was actually used to purchase cryptocurrency, and those trades generated no profit, the agency alleges.
To build credibility with potential investors, Fuller is said to have made a series of false representations about regulatory and financial safeguards. The SEC claims he told investors he held a Texas money-transmitter license, that their funds were backed by a surety bond, and that the investments were guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation—none of which was true. The complaint further alleges that Fuller pointed investors to an entity called Texas Guarantors & Securities, which he fabricated entirely, and that he altered a legitimate $2 million general-liability insurance certificate to falsely show $5 million in professional-liability coverage.
The SEC details an elaborate cover-up involving forged documents and phantom entities. Fuller allegedly created a mobile application that displayed fictitious account balances and sent investors fabricated statements, including one showing a gain of more than 334%. When investors sought to withdraw funds, the SEC says Fuller invented a fake firm called Blockchain Audit Solutions and used ChatGPT to generate a letter claiming their accounts were under audit and required KYC verification. He also created a sham entity named Digital Currency Capital Group, which resembled a legitimate crypto firm, to further the deception.
As for the disposition of investor funds, the SEC alleges that Fuller misappropriated at least $6.2 million. The complaint itemizes personal expenditures including the purchase of a home worth roughly $1 million, gambling losses, trading cards, travel expenses, and a Jeep. An additional $5.5 million was used to make what the SEC describes as Ponzi-like payments to earlier investors, a hallmark of classic pyramid schemes.
The case underscores recurring red flags that financial advisors should be prepared to discuss with clients. Guarantees of triple-digit returns, claims of FDIC insurance on private unregistered offerings, and references to nonexistent regulatory licenses are all hallmarks of fraudulent schemes. The SEC notes that no registration statement was ever filed for the investment interests offered by Fuller or Privvy Investments. Similar patterns have appeared in other recent enforcement actions, such as the Oregon investors' allegations against Norada Capital and the conviction of former Beneficient chairman Bradley Heppner in a $1 billion fraud.
The SEC is seeking permanent injunctions against Fuller, disgorgement of ill-gotten gains plus prejudgment interest, and a civil monetary penalty. The case serves as a reminder that even sophisticated-sounding technology like AI can be used as a veneer for fraud, and that rigorous due diligence remains essential for any investment promising extraordinary returns with minimal risk.
