The SEC has settled with digital asset hedge fund EmpiresX for $34,839,951 in disgorgement over charges of defrauding investors and violating securities law. EmpiresX and its founders were accused of luring investors with false claims of daily profits and misappropriating large sums of investors' money for personal use. The settlement imposes a disgorgement of $32,178,397 and an additional $2,661,554 in interest.

EmpiresX is permanently barred from future securities violations and from purchasing, offering, or selling any security in the future. Co-founders Pires and Goncalves are currently fugitives on the run outside the United States. EmpiresX was revealed to be a Ponzi scheme that took in approximately $100 million with false promises of a trading bot.