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Basis Desk
Regulation & Policy · 1 min read

SEC Secures Over $5.7M in Final Judgments Against BitConnect Promoters

Federal court orders Michael Noble, Craig Grant, and Trevon Brown to pay disgorgement, interest, and civil fines over unregistered crypto securities sales.

Editorial oversight: Julian Mercer, Chief Editor
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Key points

  • SDNY entered final judgments ordering three BitConnect promoters to pay more than $5.7M collectively in disgorgement, interest, and civil fines 1.
  • Michael Noble and Craig Grant received permanent bars against participating directly or indirectly in digital asset securities offerings 1.
  • The SEC lawsuit originated in May 2021, targeting unregistered promotion of BitConnect's lending program between June 2017 and January 2018 1.

A federal court has concluded civil actions against three individuals who promoted the BitConnect scheme, ordering them to surrender profits and pay fines exceeding $5.7 million in total 1. The United States District Court for the Southern District of New York issued the final judgments across July, August, and September 2026, winding down an enforcement lawsuit initially brought by the Securities and Exchange Commission on May 28, 2021 1.

According to SEC filings, the regulatory agency accused Michael Noble, Craig Grant, and Trevon Brown of marketing and distributing unregistered securities tied to BitConnect's purported lending program between roughly June 2017 and January 2018 1. The regulator alleged that the defendants pitched these investments and executed sales without registering the offerings or obtaining broker-dealer licenses as required by federal statutes 1.

Penalty Breakdown and Sanctions

The court imposed distinct monetary penalties and permanent injunctive measures on each defendant 1:

  • On July 17, 2026, the court finalized a judgment ordering Noble to pay $731,281.00 in disgorgement, $293,703.36 in prejudgment interest, and a $50,000.00 penalty, reaching $1,074,984.36 1. Noble had previously consented to injunctions restraining him from securities registration violations and barring him from digital asset securities distributions 1.
  • On August 7, 2026, a default judgment required Grant to pay $1,748,147.00 in disgorgement, $702,105.84 in interest, and a $230,480.00 fine, totaling $2,680,732.84 1. Grant was also permanently restrained from securities law infractions and barred from taking part in digital asset securities offerings 1.
  • On September 9, 2026, the court entered a consent judgment directing Brown to pay $1,728,563.00 in disgorgement, $182,902.15 in interest, and a $75,000.00 civil fine, amounting to $1,986,465.15 1. Brown's judgment permanently enjoins him from violating Section 5(a) and 5(c) of the Securities Act as well as Section 15(a) of the Securities Exchange Act 1.

The enforcement action was led by senior trial counsel Todd D. Brody and supervised by Laura D’Allaird, head of the SEC Enforcement Division’s Cyber and Emerging Technologies Unit, alongside Jack Kaufman 1.

Sources

  1. [1] Trevon Brown, Craig Grant, and Michael Noble — SEC Litigation Releases, September 30, 2026

Written by Basis Desk's newsroom system from the primary sources above and machine-verified against them before publication. Market figures marked "at the time of writing" come from live exchange data. Report an error: corrections@basisdesk.news · corrections policy.

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