Rep. Velázquez targets Puerto Rico crypto tax loophole with new bill

Washington, D.C.--(Newsfile Corp. - April 22, 2025) - The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged Ramil Palafox for orchestrating a fraudulent scheme that raised approximately $198 million from investors worldwide and for misappropriating more than $57 million of investor funds.

According to the SEC’s complaint, Palafox’s company, known as PGI Global, claimed to be a crypto asset and foreign exchange trading company. From January 2020 through October 2021, Palafox offered and sold PGI Global “membership” packages, which he claimed guaranteed investors high returns from PGI Global’s supposed crypto asset and foreign exchange trading and offered members multi-level-marketing-like referral incentives to encourage them to recruit new investors. However, as the complaint alleges, Palafox misappropriated more than $57 million in investor funds to buy Lamborghinis, items from luxury retailers, and for other personal expenses. He also used the majority of the remaining investor funds to pay other investors their purported returns and referral rewards in a Ponzi-like scheme until its collapse in late 2021.

“As alleged in our complaint, Palafox attracted investors with the allure of guaranteed profits from sophisticated crypto asset and foreign exchange trading, but instead of trading, Palafox bought himself and his family cars, watches, and homes using millions of dollars of investor funds,” said Scott Thompson, Associate Director of the SEC’s Philadelphia Regional Office. “We will continue to investigate and take action against bad actors who take advantage of investors with promises of guaranteed passive income and other lies and deceit.”

“Palafox used the guise of innovation to lure investors into lining his pockets with millions of dollars while leaving many victims empty-handed,” said Laura D’Allaird, Chief of the Commission’s new Cyber and Emerging Technologies Unit. “In reality, his false claims of crypto industry expertise and a supposed AI-powered auto-trading platform were just masking an international securities fraud.”

The SEC’s complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, charges Palafox with violating the anti-fraud and registration provisions of the federal securities laws. The complaint seeks permanent injunctive relief, conduct-based injunctions preventing Palafox from participating in multi-level-marketing programs involving the offer or sale of securities and offerings of crypto assets bought or sold as a security, disgorgement of ill-gotten gains with prejudgment interest, and civil penalties. The complaint also names BBMR Threshold LLC, Darvie Mendoza, Marissa Mendoza Palafox, and Linda Ventura as relief defendants and seeks disgorgement of their ill-gotten gains and prejudgment interest.

In a parallel action, Palafox was arraigned in U.S. District Court on criminal charges brought by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia.

The SEC’s ongoing investigation is being conducted by Michael Cuff and Polly Hayes of the Philadelphia Regional Office and Assunta Vivolo of the SEC’s Market Abuse Unit. It is being supervised by Ms. D’Allaird and Mr. Thompson. The litigation will be conducted by Spencer Willig and Gregory Bockin of the Philadelphia Regional Office and Eugene Hansen of SEC Headquarters. The Commission appreciates the assistance of the U.S. Attorney’s Office, the FBI, and the IRS.

The SEC’s Office of Investor Education and Advocacy directs investors to resources on detecting and avoiding pyramid schemes posing as multi-level marketing programs. Investors can find additional information at Investor.gov.

Ethereum is up $121.34 today or 7.70% to $1697.36

• Highest 5 p.m. level since April 5, 2025 when it traded at $1788.99
• Largest percentage increase since April 9, 2025 when it gained 13.32%
• Snaps a two day losing streak
• Down 6.74% month-to-date
• Down 49.25% year-to-date
• Down 64.64% from its all-time high of $4800.00 on Nov. 9, 2021 (based on 5 p.m. levels)
• Down 47.07% from 52 weeks ago (April 23, 2024), when it traded at $3206.64
• Down 58.09% from its 52-week high of $4050.30 on Dec. 16, 2024 (based on 5 p.m. levels)
• Up 14.73% from its 52-week low of $1479.38 on April 8, 2025 (based on 5 p.m. levels)
• Traded as high as $1725.74; highest intraday level since April 6, 2025 when it hit $1815.37
• Up 9.50% at today's intraday high; Largest intraday % increase since April 9, 2025 when it was up as much as 13.32%

Note: The Ethereum price is a 5 p.m. ET snapshot from Kraken

Data compiled by Dow Jones Market Data

Bitcoin surged to a 45-day high above $91,000 on April 22, and the upward movement coincided with gold reaching a new all-time high. The price gains reflect investors' concerns over a potential economic recession amid ongoing global trade tensions.

The tides are shifting, but does data support a Bitcoin price rally above $95,000?

ZURICH, April 22, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — The long-awaited $XPL token distribution has officially begun, signaling a pivotal moment in the XploraDEX journey as the platform transitions from presale to active deployment. For the next 7 days, early investors will receive their tokens, while new participants still have a final opportunity to join the presale and secure their stake in the first AI-powered DEX on XRPL.

US Securities and Exchange Commission member Hester Peirce, currently leading the agency’s crypto task force, offered a preview of what the industry could expect now that Paul Atkins has been sworn in as the regulatory body’s chairman.

Speaking to Cointelegraph before the US Senate confirmed Atkins’ nomination and he took his position as SEC chair, Peirce said she welcomed the opportunity to work again with the incoming agency leader. Peirce worked as Atkins’ counsel from 2004 to 2008 during the then-commissioner’s first term at the SEC.

“He cares about economic growth and how the markets that we regulate can support economic growth,” Peirce told Cointelegraph. “I would love the chance to work with [Atkins] on trying to reorient the agency so that it does take into consideration all aspects of our mission.”

Atkins, appointed by US President Donald Trump in what many saw as a nod to the crypto industry to replace former chair Gary Gensler, was sworn in on April 21. During his confirmation hearing in the Senate Banking Committee, lawmakers questioned Atkins on his ties to the crypto industry, potentially presenting conflicts of interest in his role helping regulate digital assets. 

“I expect that he will continue to follow the ethics rules,” said Peirce on Atkins. “I worked for [him] and I have very high regard for his integrity.” 

SEC’s priorities under new leadership 

Atkins, now chair, comes to the SEC as the fourth commissioner, with five members typically filling the agency’s leadership positions. Gensler and former Commissioner Jaime Lizárraga stepped down in January. Commissioner Caroline Crenshaw is expected to be the next to depart before 2026, leaving a panel of only three Republican commissioners unless Trump nominates a Democrat.

Commissioner Mark Uyeda, whom Trump named as acting chair on Jan. 20, was still scheduled to oversee some of the SEC’s proceedings, including an April 25 roundtable event discussing crypto custody. Uyeda said on April 21 that he was planning to return to his “regular role” as a commissioner, suggesting that Atkins may soon assume all his responsibilities as chair. 

The shakeup in leadership comes amid many in the industry looking for clarity from the SEC, the courts, and lawmakers after Gensler’s departure. Under the former chair, many accused the SEC of enacting a “regulation by enforcement” approach to crypto, resulting in several high-profile lawsuits against firms including Coinbase, Ripple Labs, and Binance. Since January, the commission has dropped many of the cases.

“I think we’re all trying to get to a good place, which is putting some clarity around crypto, some regulatory clarity,” said Peirce.

The seven-day moving average (7DMA) of the number of active addresses on Aptos has dropped to a yearly low of approximately 644,000. This marks its lowest level since the third week of November 2024 and continues a sharp downtrend that began after hitting an all-time high in February 2025. 

Specifically, on Feb. 1, the figure peaked at 1.56 million after a steady seven-month climb that saw gradual and consistent growth. However, in the three months since that peak, active addresses have fallen by over 40%.

Meanwhile, the 7DMA of the number of new addresses on Aptos has followed a similar pattern. From August 2024 to February 2025, this figure rose steadily to a record high of 525,000 new addresses on Feb. 1. Since then, this figure has experienced an even steeper decline of over 80% over the past three months.

The parallel drop in both active and new addresses strongly suggests that the increase in user activity from August 2024 to February 2025 was heavily driven by newly created addresses that lacked long-term retention. In other words, much of the address growth appears to have been "non-sticky," failing to translate into meaningful user engagement. This implies a surge of low-value addresses, such as bots, airdrop farmers, or short-term opportunistic participants, rather than genuine, recurring user growth.

The price of the APT token itself has declined by over 35% since Feb. 1.

This is an excerpt from The Block's Data & Insights newsletter. Dig into the numbers making up the industry's most thought-provoking trends.

Disclaimer: The Block is an independent media outlet that delivers news, research, and data. As of November 2023, Foresight Ventures is a majority investor of The Block. Foresight Ventures invests in other companies in the crypto space. Crypto exchange Bitget is an anchor LP for Foresight Ventures. The Block continues to operate independently to deliver objective, impactful, and timely information about the crypto industry. Here are our current financial disclosures.

© 2025 The Block. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.