Shavers has promised investors return of 7% weekly, and actually funded payments inthe classic pyramidal way - paying the old investors with money from new ones. Fraud more difficult than 700,000 Bitcoin (over 60 million USD at the current exchange rate, about 4.5 million in "investments") took place during the 2011 and 2012 and Shavers used clients money for his own investments and to cover his own costs.

Andrew Calamari, head of the New York Regional Office of the SEC (the U.S. Securities Exchange Commission, responsible for this type of fraud), said on the occasion of this case that fraudsters are not beyond the reach of the law just because they use Bitcoin or some other virtual currency. SEC seeks a court order to freeze the assets of Shavers and his company until the trial is over.

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