Jeremy Jordan-Jones, Self-Styled Founder of Now-Defunct Crypto Startup Amalgam, Charged with Fraud

Prosecutors have charged Jeremy Jordan-Jones, the self-styled founder of a now-defunct crypto startup called Amalgam, with fraud, alleging that he swindled investors

output: A startup founder who allegedly deceived investors in his “sham blockchain” venture, siphoning over $1 million to fund a lavish lifestyle, has been charged with fraud by prosecutors.

Jeremy Jordan-Jones, 35, is accused of defrauding investors in Amalgam, a cryptocurrency startup that is now defunct, with the money allegedly used to pay for a luxurious lifestyle that included stays at "high-end hotels and restaurants in Miami," car payments and designer clothing, according to court documents.

Among the investors was a venture capital firm, identified in a 2022 Forbes article as Brown Venture Group, which invested $500,000 in Amalgam.

Jordan-Jones is alleged to have touted Amalgam as a rapidly-growing tech company that created blockchain-based point-of-sale payment systems, which had multi-million-dollar partnerships with sports teams including the Golden State Warriors and a professional soccer team in England’s Premier League, as well as a big restaurant conglomerate with over 500 restaurants.

However, these partnerships never existed, and Jordan-Jones allegedly lied to investors about the startup’s progress and the purpose of their investments.

According to prosecutors, Jordan-Jones would also allegedly tell investors that his goal was to list Amalgam’s non-existent crypto token on a crypto exchange, and that he needed their money to do so.

But in actuality, prosecutors claim that Jordan-Jones used the money to pay for his personal expenses, including "high-end hotels and restaurants in Miami, clothing from high-end designers, and a Mercedes-Benz E450 Coupe."

Prosecutors also said that Jordan-Jones provided falsified documents to a financial institution, which he used to fraudulently obtain a corporate credit card, racking up a $350,000 balance before the bank closed his account.

Jordan-Jones has been charged with one count each of wire fraud, securities fraud, making false statements to a financial institution and aggravated identity theft — charges which carry a combined maximum sentence of 82 years in prison. The aggravated identity theft charge carries a mandatory minimum sentence of two years.

“Jordan-Jones, capitalizing on the publicity around blockchain technology, perpetrated a brazen scheme to defraud investors,” said U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton in a Tuesday press announcement. “He touted his company as a groundbreaking blockchain startup, backed by high-profile partnerships. In reality, Jordan-Jones’s company was a sham, and investors’ funds were siphoned off to bankroll his lavish lifestyle. This should be an example to would-be financial fraudsters that the women and men of the Southern District and the FBI are watching and to the investing public that fraudsters often use the promise of new technology to cloak their schemes.”