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SEC sues Texas man over $12.3 million alleged crypto scheme built on fake AI trading bots

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SEC sues Texas man over $12.3 million alleged crypto scheme built on fake AI trading bots

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has sued Texas resident Nathan Fuller, alleging he raised about $12.3 million from roughly 150 investors through a crypto investment scheme built around false claims of AI-powered trading bots, guaranteed returns and insurance protections.

According to a complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas, Fuller operated through Privvy Investments LLC and the assumed business names Privvy Investments and Gateway Digital Investments.

The SEC says he sold passive joint-venture interests in a purported crypto arbitrage trading operation from at least October 2022 through mid-2024.

The agency claims that Fuller told investors that proprietary AI-based trading bots could scan crypto markets, execute high-frequency arbitrage trades and limit losses through stop-loss coding.

The complaint alleges investors were promised returns of 40% to 50% within 30 to 45 days and, in some cases, exceeding 100% in less than a month.

The SEC says those representations were false. According to the complaint, only about $380,000, or roughly 3% of investor funds, was used to purchase cryptocurrency without the involvement of bots. The agency says those trades were conducted without the advertised bots and generated no profits.

Fuller, instead, allegedly misappropriated at least $6.2 million for personal expenses, including the purchase of a home, gambling, travel and vehicles, while using about $5.5 million to make “Ponzi-like payments” to investors.

As withdrawal concerns grew, the complaint says, Fuller created fabricated account statements showing gains, referenced fictitious entities, and used artificial intelligence to generate a letter from a purported auditing firm claiming investor accounts were under review and would later be liquidated into a trust.

The SEC charged Fuller with violating the registration and antifraud provisions of federal securities laws and is seeking permanent injunctions, disgorgement, civil penalties and a ban on participating in securities offerings.

The case follows a separate bankruptcy proceeding in which the Justice Department said Fuller was denied discharge of more than $12.5 million in debt after admitting he operated Privvy as a Ponzi scheme and fabricated documentation, according to court records cited by the DOJ.



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Bitmine adds 25K ETH – Institutional confidence in Ethereum remains strong

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moneyvests
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Bitmine adds 25K ETH - Institutional confidence in Ethereum remains strong


Tom Lee’s Bitmine strengthened its Ethereum strategy after purchasing another 25,000 ETH worth $50.56 million. 

The acquisition arrived during a period when ETH remained under pressure, highlighting growing institutional conviction despite recent price weakness. 

Large treasury purchases often reduce immediately available supply, especially when buyers move assets into long-term holdings rather than exchanges. 

This latest transaction also followed several weeks of corporate interest in digital asset treasuries. However, Ethereum [ETH] failed to reflect that demand in its short-term price structure. 

Price action continued drifting lower, suggesting broader market participants remained cautious. Even so, Bitmine’s latest purchase reinforced the view that major investors still viewed current levels as attractive accumulation zones.

Exchange flows failed to mirror accumulation

Ethereum’s Spot exchange activity remained relatively balanced despite Bitmine’s aggressive buying activity. 

The latest netflow reading showed a modest inflow of approximately $4.33 million, a figure that appeared insignificant compared with the company’s $50.56 million acquisition. 

Exchange participants neither rushed to deposit large amounts of ETH nor accelerated withdrawals during the same period. 

Instead, flows remained largely neutral, reflecting a market that lacked strong directional conviction. This divergence created an interesting backdrop for Ethereum. 

Institutional buyers continued accumulating meaningful amounts of ETH, yet broader exchange behavior failed to signal widespread accumulation. 

As a result, market liquidity remained relatively stable. However, persistent treasury purchases could gradually tighten available supply if this trend continued.

Source: CoinGlass

Ethereum approaches a critical decision zone

Ethereum traded near the crucial $2,000 support zone after failing to sustain strength above higher resistance levels. 

The chart showed repeated rejection around $2,198 before sellers regained control and pushed the price back toward major demand. 

Earlier advances also struggled near the $2,400 barrier, reinforcing its importance as a key resistance region. Price held near $2,013 on the daily chart, leaving little room before a deeper decline risk emerged. 

Meanwhile, the Relative Strength Index weakened to 33.05, while its moving average stood at 35.61. The readings placed RSI close to oversold territory and reflected fading buying strength throughout May. 

However, previous declines toward similar levels often preceded stabilization phases. If buyers defend $2,000 successfully, ETH could attempt a recovery toward $2,198. A breakdown below support would likely shift focus toward lower liquidity zones.

Ethereum price actionEthereum price action
Source: TradingView

Where will liquidity pull ETH?

Liquidation data highlighted several key zones that could influence Ethereum’s next move. The heatmap showed dense short liquidation clusters concentrated around the $2,030 to $2,040 range. 

These levels sat directly above the current price and represented attractive liquidity targets if buyers regained control. Meanwhile, substantial downside liquidity remained visible between $2,000 and $1,980. 

Markets often gravitate toward heavily populated liquidation zones because they provide accessible liquidity. For that reason, both areas deserve close attention. A recovery above $2,030 could trigger a cascade of short liquidations and strengthen bullish pressure. 

Alternatively, a break below $2,000 could pull the price toward the lower cluster before meaningful buying interest returned.

Source: CoinGlass

Final Summary

  • Bitmine continued accumulating ETH while exchange flows remained largely neutral.
  • Ethereum revisited $2,000 support as RSI approached oversold territory.



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NextDecade Stock Has Lagged the Market, so Why Did One Investor Buy Up More?

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moneyvests
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NextDecade Stock Has Lagged the Market, so Why Did One Investor Buy Up More?


On May 14, 2026, Ripple Effect Asset Management disclosed a first-quarter purchase of 739,723 shares of NextDecade (NASDAQ:NEXT), an estimated $4.21 million trade based on quarterly average pricing.

What happened

In a SEC filing dated May 14, 2026, Ripple Effect Asset Management LP reported buying 739,723 additional shares of NextDecade (NASDAQ:NEXT) during the first quarter. The estimated transaction value was $4.21 million, calculated using the period’s average share price. The fund’s quarter-end position in NextDecade rose to 1,339,723 shares, with the value increasing by $7.10 million due to both the purchase and stock price changes.

What else to know

  • Top five holdings after the filing:

    • NYSE: XIFR: $26.96 million (18.8% of AUM)

    • NYSE: KGS: $26.71 million (18.6% of AUM)

    • NYSE: VST: $15.03 million (10.5% of AUM)

    • NYSEMKT: IE: $14.66 million (10.2% of AUM)

    • NYSE: WMB: $11.79 million (8.2% of AUM)

  • As of May 13, 2026, NextDecade shares were priced at $8.54, up 3% over the past year and well underperforming the S&P 500, which is up 28% in the same period.

Company overview

Metric

Value

Market capitalization

$2 billion

Net income (TTM)

($354.04 million)

Price (as of market close May 13, 2026)

$8.54

Company snapshot

  • NextDecade develops liquefied natural gas (LNG) export terminals and carbon capture and storage (CCS) projects, with the flagship Rio Grande LNG facility in Texas.

  • The firm engages in development, liquefaction, and sale of LNG, and in providing CO2 capture and storage solutions for industrial customers, but reported $0 in LTM revenue as of March 31, 2026.

  • It serves international LNG buyers and industrial clients seeking decarbonization, with operations focused on the U.S. Gulf Coast.

NextDecade is an energy infrastructure developer focused on LNG export and carbon capture projects, based in Houston, Texas. The company is active in the U.S. Gulf Coast and focuses on the development of the Rio Grande LNG terminal and CCS projects with third-party industrial facilities.

What this transaction means for investors

Though it’s important to note Ripple Effect also holds some put options for NextDecade, it appears the fund might believe the market hasn’t fully priced in the firm’s potential.

NextDecade’s Rio Grande LNG project continues moving steadily toward commercialization. As of March, Trains 1 and 2 were nearly 68% complete, while management said the broader Phase 1 project remains ahead of schedule. CEO Matt Schatzman expects the first gas to enter the facility during the second half of 2026 and the first LNG production in the first half of 2027.

Just as important, NextDecade has already started monetizing future production. Earlier this year, the company signed agreements covering more than 175 TBtu of LNG expected to be delivered in 2027 and 2028. Management said those cargoes are projected to generate margins exceeding $3.00 per one million British Thermal Units (MMBtu), providing an early glimpse of the earnings power the facility could eventually produce.

The longer-term opportunity may be even larger. Trains 1 through 5 are under construction, while the company is advancing development plans for Trains 6 through 8, which could add roughly 18 million tonnes per annum of additional liquefaction capacity. And ultimately, if NextDecade delivers Rio Grande LNG on schedule and secures additional long-term contracts, today’s valuation could look very different once the project begins generating meaningful cash flow.

Should you buy stock in NextDecade right now?

Before you buy stock in NextDecade, consider this:

The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and NextDecade wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years.

Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004… if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $463,900!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005… if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $1,294,401!*

Now, it’s worth noting Stock Advisor’s total average return is 978% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 211% for the S&P 500. Don’t miss the latest top 10 list, available with Stock Advisor, and join an investing community built by individual investors for individual investors.

See the 10 stocks »

*Stock Advisor returns as of May 30, 2026.

Jonathan Ponciano has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

NextDecade Stock Has Lagged the Market, so Why Did One Investor Buy Up More? was originally published by The Motley Fool



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Wall Street’s trillion-dollar dilemma: Why AI-powered hackers are keeping big banks off the blockchain

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moneyvests
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Wall Street’s trillion-dollar dilemma: Why AI-powered hackers are keeping big banks off the blockchain

Traditional financial institutions are preparing to move trillions of dollars of assets onchain, but the risk of hacks and exploits is putting them off, according to blockchain security firm CertiK’s CEO Ronghui Gu.

“Right now, more and more institutions are trying to move assets onchain,” Gu told CoinDesk in an interview. “They imagine that, let’s say in 10 years, multiple trillion dollars — even tens of trillions of dollars — of assets are going to move onchain.”

The potentially massive migration of financial assets is hitting a wall because, although bankers and legacy institutions want to capture the efficiency of decentralized ledgers, the current operational reality is still too risky for conservative capital allocators.

“When they move assets onchain, they need to face all these AI attacks, smart contract vulnerabilities, oracle manipulation, and cross-chain bridge hacks,” Gu explained. “So, that’s being considered as one of the major blockers for all this TradFi to move trillions of dollars of assets onchain.”

Gu said their concerns are legitimate, noting that CertiK detected hacks nearly every day in April, making it the worst month in four years, fueled mostly by AI-driven attacks, notwithstanding “April was the worst month in four years with only three days without a hack,” Gu said, adding that CertiK believes this sudden rise could only be possible with AI.

Drift Protocol and Kelp Dao were hacked by North Korean cybercriminals in April in two exploits that drained nearly $600 million from the two lending crypto pools. In February 2025, Bybit suffered a $1.46 billion attack, described as the biggest hack of all time.

DefiLlama data recently showed more than $1.1 billion had been lost to DeFi hacks in a year, exposing how vulnerabilities in cross-chain infrastructure can quickly spill into the broader ecosystem.

Persistent operational failure is the primary symptom of what Gu calls an “unfair game” in favor of malicious actors, because they possess infinite resources.

Deep pockets

Hackers focus on highly lucrative protocols with massive total value locked (TVL), so they are economically incentivized to pump immense capital into their exploits.

A single protocol attacker can easily spend $10,000 to $20,000 worth of computer tokens to keep advanced engines running continuous vulnerability scans against a protocol for days or weeks on end. Conversely, Gu said, protocol defenders operate under strict, localized project budgetary constraints.

“We have 5,000 clients,” Gu explained. “When we receive a request from a client, there’s a budget. We will spend tokens plus human experts within that budget.” That creates a massive structural gap: while a defense team is bound by a strict commercial contract to scan a protocol over a few hours, the machines of a hacker or group of hackers never stop hunting for a single crack in the code.

Gu said exploits have increased in speed and efficiency with AI and what’s worse is that the nearly-daily trend seen in April could continue through to the end of this year.



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The Vanguard ETF Investors Overlook Because It Sounds Boring, But Actually Isn’t

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moneyvests
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The Vanguard ETF Investors Overlook Because It Sounds Boring, But Actually Isn't


Over the past three and a half years, the dominant U.S. equity themes have been tech, growth, semiconductors, and artificial intelligence (AI). Whether you look at performance or investment flows, it seems to be all anybody wants right now.

That means that a lot of themes that have traditionally worked quite well in the past are largely being ignored right now. One of those themes is dividend-paying stocks. Since the 1940s, dividends have accounted for about one-third of the S&P 500‘s (SNPINDEX: ^GSPC) total return. That’s very easy to overlook, since tech stocks have been driving returns and the S&P 500’s current yield of 1.05% is an all-time low.

Will AI create the world’s first trillionaire? Our team just released a report on the one little-known company, called an “Indispensable Monopoly” providing the critical technology Nvidia and Intel both need. Continue »

But being overshadowed doesn’t suddenly make dividend investing a subpar strategy. Dividend growers in particular can still be substantial wealth builders over time. The Vanguard Dividend Appreciation ETF (NYSEMKT: VIG), which happens to have a surprising growth component in its portfolio, is one of the better ways to accomplish this.

Image source: Getty Images.

Dividend growth as a long-term wealth-building strategy

Focusing one’s portfolio almost entirely on tech and growth stocks can unquestionably deliver extra returns. But over time, a portfolio like that usually features above-average volatility, deeper drawdowns, and longer recovery periods.

Plus, history shows that many people don’t ride out bear markets. They sell after stocks have fallen and only get back in once the recovery has happened. That makes more durable and defensive dividend stocks a potentially smoother path to long-term wealth creation.

That’s the biggest benefit of investing in long-term dividend growers. One study from Ned Davis Research covering more than 50 years of market return data found that dividend growers generated higher total returns with lower overall volatility than companies that pay but don’t grow dividends, non-dividend payers, and dividend cutters.

That type of finding tends to get lost in today’s growth-heavy market, but it clearly shows what these stocks can do in the longer term.

Why VIG may be the best “growth plus income” fund

The Vanguard Dividend Appreciation ETF targets large-cap stocks with 10 or more years of consecutive annual dividend growth.

On the income front, that strategy helps ensure that shareholders see steady dividend increases from their investments. This ETF has increased its annual dividend for 12 straight years and has a 10-year dividend growth rate of about 7%. Its strategy does, however, eliminate the top 25% of dividend yields in order to help secure distribution stability. The ability to deliver consistent dividend growth is solid, but the 1.6% yield probably won’t get many people excited.

On the growth side, this fund currently benefits from the market cap-weighting methodology. That helps make Broadcom (NASDAQ: AVGO), Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL), and Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) the fund’s top three holdings, with a combined weight of 13%. It also creates a 26% weighting in the tech sector as a whole. That gives the Vanguard Dividend Appreciation ETF a growth tilt that few dividend ETFs can match.

That’s why I believe this fund is one of the best combinations of growth and income in the marketplace. The yield isn’t particularly exciting, but the portfolio combines the long-term benefits of dividend growth investing with a tech overweight that helps it capture some extra upside in bull markets.

Should you buy stock in Vanguard Dividend Appreciation ETF right now?

Before you buy stock in Vanguard Dividend Appreciation ETF, consider this:

The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and Vanguard Dividend Appreciation ETF wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years.

Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004… if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $463,900!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005… if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $1,294,401!*

Now, it’s worth noting Stock Advisor’s total average return is 978% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 211% for the S&P 500. Don’t miss the latest top 10 list, available with Stock Advisor, and join an investing community built by individual investors for individual investors.

See the 10 stocks »

*Stock Advisor returns as of May 30, 2026.

David Dierking has positions in Apple and Vanguard Dividend Appreciation ETF. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Apple, Broadcom, Microsoft, and Vanguard Dividend Appreciation ETF. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

The Vanguard ETF Investors Overlook Because It Sounds Boring, But Actually Isn’t was originally published by The Motley Fool



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Hyperliquid briefly flips Dogecoin, joins the top 10 crypto list after $67.5 ATH

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moneyvests
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Hyperliquid briefly flips Dogecoin, joins the top 10 crypto list after $67.5 ATH


Hyperliquid [HYPE] hit a series of new all-time highs (ATH) on the price chart this week, thanks to media attention and ETF flows.

On the 29th of May, the altcoin climbed to another record high of $67.5, with the market cap surpassing $17B. 

This briefly flipped Dogecoin [DOGE], as HYPE became the ninth-largest crypto by market cap and firmly joined the top 10 list. This would make Tron [TRX] and Solana [SOL] the next targets. 

As of writing, however, the altcoin gave back some gains and traded at $64.5 and ranked 10th by market size on CoinMarketCap.

Hyperliquid HYPE
Source: HYPE/USDT 

HYPE has rallied 70% since mid-May and surged 3X from the February lows of $20. The parabolic rally in May was triggered by Coinbase’s USDC deal and sustained by the strong ETF flows. 

But Friday’s pump was a complete surprise.

Hyperliquid foresees DeFi perps in the U.S

Notably, on Friday, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) approved the first Bitcoin perpetual Futures contract (perps) for Kalshi and Coinbase. Perps allow users to gain exposure to assets with limited capital. 

Hyperliquid’s breakout success was hinged on crypto perps. Later on, it diversified into commodities or RWA (real-world assets) perps, pre-IPO, and now prediction markets.

In fact, perps is the most dominant segment in terms of volume and Open Interest across the entire crypto market. 

Hence, Hyperliquid’s moat quickly elevated it as a top challenger to Binance, Coinbase, and even top traditional players like Nasdaq. Some analysts claimed that since crypto perps were not legal, U.S. citizens were leveraging VPNs to use Hyperliquid. 

Assuming this is true, the CFTC’s approved perps would have been deemed negative for Hyperliquid. This is because Coinbase and Kalshi are now regulated rivals.

But Hyperliquid Policy Center (HPC), the research and lobby arm of the decentralized exchange (DEX), downplayed the threat. In fact, HPC’s CEO Jake Chervinsky saw it as a positive update and noted, 

This was always an expected and necessary first step on the long road toward enabling DeFi perps in the USA.

Hyperliquid HYPEHyperliquid HYPE
Source: X

Currently, the rules apply to perps on centralized exchanges but not DEXes. Interestingly, the update, including a series of unstaked HYPE, didn’t deter bulls. Should bulls continue to defend $60 as support, the next upside targets could be $70 and $80. 

Final Summary

  • HYPE briefly flipped DOGE as the ninth-largest crypto asset after climbing to a record high of $67.5. 
  • Hyperliquid views the U.S. first CEX crypto perps as the ‘first step’ to DeFi perps and not a threat to the platform.



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Grayscale says Hyperliquid could become a ‘financial services juggernaut’

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moneyvests
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Grayscale says Hyperliquid could become a ‘financial services juggernaut’

Hyperliquid (HYPE), a decentralized trading platform that began as a crypto perpetual futures exchange less than three years ago, is increasingly being viewed by Wall Street analysts as a broader financial infrastructure play that could challenge parts of traditional exchanges and derivatives markets.

In a new report, Grayscale described Hyperliquid as a fast-growing blockchain-based platform that generated roughly $800 million in revenue in 2025 while capturing meaningful market share in crypto perpetual futures, one of the largest segments of digital asset trading.

“Hyperliquid is not directly comparable to another project in either crypto or traditional finance,” Grayscale wrote. “If it continues to execute well … we think Hyperliquid could become a financial services juggernaut.”

Perpetual futures, or “perps,” are derivatives contracts that allow traders to speculate on asset prices without expiration dates. The market has become a cornerstone of crypto trading, averaging roughly $200 billion in daily volume this year, according to Grayscale.

Historically, the market has been dominated by centralized exchanges such as Binance and Bybit. Hyperliquid, however, earlier this year emerged as one of the first decentralized exchanges to compete at scale while offering self-custody and onchain transparency.

The platform processed roughly $2.9 trillion in perpetual futures volume in 2025 and now holds about $7 billion in open interest, according to the report.

Grayscale argued Hyperliquid’s ambitions now extend far beyond crypto trading.

The platform has expanded into tokenized equities, commodities and prediction-style markets through its HIP-3 and HIP-4 systems, allowing developers to launch new markets directly on the network. Grayscale said those products are increasingly functioning as round-the-clock trading venues for assets traditionally confined to Wall Street hours.

FalconX reached a similar conclusion in a separate report last week, saying Hyperliquid is beginning to compete with firms such as CME Group and prediction market operators including Kalshi and Polymarket.

“Hyperliquid is seeing traction as demand for its HIP-3 markets expands to include pre-IPO markets,” FalconX strategist Martin Gaspar wrote.

Both reports pointed to regulation as a critical factor for Hyperliquid’s future growth.

Hyperliquid currently blocks U.S. users because perpetual futures markets operate in a regulatory gray area under American law. But Grayscale said evolving guidance from regulators and growing interest from firms such as Coinbase (COIN), Robinhood (HOOD) and Kraken suggest regulated perpetual-style products could eventually enter the U.S. market.

Even so, risks remain. Grayscale noted that Hyperliquid’s token, HYPE, remains highly volatile and warned that the platform’s long-term growth depends heavily on future regulatory changes.

Still, both firms suggested Hyperliquid has moved beyond being viewed as just another crypto exchange.

Instead, analysts increasingly see it as an early attempt to build a 24/7 global financial market on blockchain rails.



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