CFTC Charges South African Bitcoin Pool Operator With $1.7B Fraud

The commodities watchdog accused MTI of promising to grow investors’ assets with a bot that didn’t exist

article-image

Blockworks Exclusive art by axel rangel

share
  • The alleged scam is the largest fraudulent scheme involving bitcoin in any CFTC case
  • The regulator said MTI “misappropriated, either directly or indirectly, all of the bitcoin they accepted from the pool participants”

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission has filed civil charges against Cornelius Johannes Steynberg and his South Africa-based bitcoin pool operator Mirror Trading International Proprietary Limited (MTI) Thursday over fraud and registration violations. 

In a lawsuit filed in the US District Court for the Western District of Texas, CFTC alleged MTI’s CEO Steynberg accepted at least 29,421 bitcoin from approximately 23,000 individuals in the US and even more throughout the world, to “participate in the commodity pool without being registered as a commodity pool operator as required,” according to CFTC’s statement

It was the “largest fraudulent scheme involving bitcoin charged in any CFTC case,” the regulator said. 

The statement also said the CFTC will seek full restitution to defrauded investors, disgorgement of ill-gotten gains, civil monetary penalties, permanent registration and trading bans, and a permanent injunction against future violations of the Commodity Exchange Act and CFTC regulations. 

The CFTC said in the complaint that MTI claimed to have a proprietary “bot” or software program that would help investors grow their trading gains. Yet, no such software program existed, the regulator said — Steynberg and his firm “misappropriated, either directly or indirectly, all of the bitcoin they accepted from the pool participants.”

Steynberg had been a fugitive from South African law enforcement. He was recently arrested by Brazilian police on an INTERPOL arrest warrant, according to the agency. 

A representative of MTI couldn’t be reached to comment immediately.


Get the news in your inbox. Explore Blockworks newsletters:

Tags

Decoding crypto and the markets. Daily, with Byron Gilliam.

Upcoming Events

Old Billingsgate

Mon - Wed, October 13 - 15, 2025

Blockworks’ Digital Asset Summit (DAS) will feature conversations between the builders, allocators, and legislators who will shape the trajectory of the digital asset ecosystem in the US and abroad.

recent research

Research Report Templates.jpg

Research

Figure, founded by former SoFi CEO Mike Cagney, has emerged as a leader in onchain RWAs, with ~$17.5B publicly tokenized. The platform’s ecosystem volume is growing ~40% YoY as it expands beyond HELOCs into student loans, DSCR loans, unsecured loans, bankruptcy claims, and more. Operationally, Figure cuts average loan production cost by ~93% and compresses median funding time from ~42 days to ~10, creating a durable speed-and-cost advantage.

article-image

Former White House crypto official Bo Hines is expected to be the CEO of the new project

article-image

In bonds, stablecoins and billionaires, a reminder of what makes crypto special

article-image

21Shares exec says CPI and PPI data supports a Fed rate cut, with market leaning toward a 25bps decrease

article-image

The Ethereum co-founder suggested LINEA holders would be eligible for other airdrops in cryptic tweet

article-image

The layer-2’s biggest release yet brings benefits — but a post-upgrade outage caused a chain reorg

article-image

Crypto is shifting into risk-on mode — pump.fun dominates meme activity, while Lido leans on treasury maneuvers