Poloniex Fair Fund

                                                                                                                                                       

The initial distribution of the Fair Fund took place between January 7 - 13, 2025. This distribution is being made in accordance with the Plan of Distribution, approved by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on January 31, 2023, located on the Case Documents tab of this website. Claims were calculated pursuant to the Plan of Allocation, which is included as Exhibit A of the Plan of Distribution. If you received a check in this distribution, please promptly cash it, as your check will become void on May 7, 2025, i.e., 120 days from issuance. If you require your payment to be reissued, we must receive your reissuance request on or before May 7, 2025 for it to be processed. If your Distribution Payment was sent via wire, and you have not received it, please contact us at [email protected] for further assistance.   If you have questions regarding your payment or the initial distribution, please send an email with your questions to [email protected].

     Background

The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC” or “Commission”) established a Fair Fund (the "Poloniex Fair Fund") in its proceeding against  Poloniex,  LLC(“Poloniex”) described below, to compensate preliminary claimants who paid fees to transact in certain crypto assets on the Poloniex trading platform during the period between August 1, 2017 through November 30, 2019, inclusive (the “Relevant Period”) under the following symbols: NAUT, NOTE, SJCX, BELA, BCY, FLDC, FLO, PINK, RADS, BLK, NXC, RIC, XVC, BTCD, BTM, EMC2, GRC, POT, VRC, XBC, NEOS, AMP, EXP, GNO, BCN, GAME, NXT, DCR, GAS, LSK, OMNI, REP, and ARDR (the “Crypto Assets”). 

On August 9, 2021, the Commission issued an Order instituting Administrative and Cease-and-Desist Proceedings (the "Order") against Poloniex, LLC ("the Respondent"). In the Order, the Commission found that, from July 2017 through November 2019, Poloniex operated a digital asset trading platform that meets the definition of an “exchange” under the federal securities laws but did not register as a national securities exchange nor operate pursuant to an exemption from registration at any time, in violation of Section 5 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. The Commission ordered Poloniex to pay $8,484,313.99 in disgorgement, $403,995.12 in prejudgment interest, and a $1,500,000 civil money penalty to the Commission. The Commission created the Poloniex Fair Fund pursuant to Section 308(a) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, so the penalty paid, along with the disgorgement and interest paid, can be distributed to harmed investors.

On June 28, 2022, the Commission appointed Kurtzman Carson Consultants, LLC, as the fund administrator for the Fair Fund (the “Fund Administrator”). The Fund Administrator is responsible for administering the Fair Fund in accordance with the Plan.

On January 31, 2023, the Commission approved a Plan of Distribution for the Poloniex Fair Fund (the "Plan").

In March of 2023, in accordance with the Plan (publicly available through the "Documents" tab of this website), the Fund Administrator mailed Plan Notices to Preliminary Claimants, as that term is defined in the Plan.