New York Attorney General Issues Call for Crypto Industry Whistleblowers

New York Attorney General Letitia James has also called on spurned crypto investors to reach out, signaling potential enforcement actions

article-image

NYAG Letitia James; Source: Shutterstock

share

key takeaways

  • New Yorkers let down by crypto platforms are encouraged to contact the Attorney General’s office
  • “Investors were promised large returns on cryptocurrencies, but instead lost their hard-earned money,” New York’s Attorney General wrote

New York Attorney General Letitia James has called on crypto buyers in the state who’ve been “deceived” or affected by the recent crash to contact the Investor Protection Bureau.

The Office of the Attorney General (OAG) wants to hear from New Yorkers locked out of their digital asset accounts, unable to access their investments or otherwise done wrong by crypto startups, it said in an alert issued on Monday.

Crypto industry workers have also been encouraged to file whistleblower complaints if they have witnessed misconduct.

The alert comes after crypto markets faced contagion following TerraUSD’s crash and the collapse of high-profile lenders such as Celsius and Voyager Digital. Withdrawal freezes on these networks, among others, have blocked investors from accessing their funds as firms work on their insolvency issues.

“The recent turbulence and significant losses in the cryptocurrency market are concerning,” James wrote in a statement. “Investors were promised large returns on cryptocurrencies, but instead lost their hard-earned money.”

But despite massive liquidations across May and June, demand for crypto assets remains relatively strong.

Cryptocurrency’s collective market value jumped more than 8% over the past week, now sitting at just under $1.1 trillion, although that’s still down by more than half over the year to date. Bitcoin’s price is up more than 7%, Blockworks Research shows, while ether has risen 12%.

Eliézer Ndinga, director of research at 21Shares, told Blockworks in an interview that given recent price developments and the fact that there have been more inflows into bitcoin exchange-traded products, there is a lot more market enthusiasm on social media. 

“Many investors are in the money, and that’s basically a testament to the fact that we are outside the capitulation zone,” he said.


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.

Industry City | Brooklyn, NY

TUES - THURS, JUNE 24 - 26, 2025

Permissionless IV serves as the definitive gathering for crypto’s technical founders, developers, and builders to come together and create the future.If you’re ready to shape the future of crypto, Permissionless IV is where it happens.

Brooklyn, NY

SUN - MON, JUN. 22 - 23, 2025

Blockworks and Cracked Labs are teaming up for the third installment of the Permissionless Hackathon, happening June 22–23, 2025 in Brooklyn, NY. This is a 36-hour IRL builder sprint where developers, designers, and creatives ship real projects solving real problems across […]

recent research

Research Report Templates.png

Research

Maple Finance has successfully navigated significant market challenges through its strategic pivot to secured lending (Maple v2) and the launch of its Syrup product. Syrup has become a primary growth driver, delivering sustainable, outperforming stablecoin yields and rapidly increasing TVL. The upcoming custody-first Bitcoin staking product (istBTC) presents another significant avenue for expansion. Crucially, Maple has achieved operational profitability, a key inflection point that, combined with a fully vested token and active buyback mechanism, strengthens its investment case. While valuation metrics suggest potential undervaluation relative to peers and growth, the primary forward-looking risk identified is the long-term sustainability of its current high-take-rate collateral staking revenue model.

article-image

In 2014, Microsoft virus scanners were detecting viruses in Bitcoin software

article-image

Ledn’s Mauricio Di Bartolomeo explained how this cycle’s been different for the lender

article-image

The shorts looking for funding range from charming animated series to gritty live-action dramas

article-image

Money, it turns out, is emergent, like consciousness

article-image

Bridge flows churn in both directions as risk appetite returns