SafeMoon files for bankruptcy, sending SFM tumbling

The company filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in Utah

article-image

photo_gonzo/Shutterstock modified by Blockworks

share

SafeMoon filed for bankruptcy in Utah on Thursday.

The company filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy, which essentially means that the bankruptcy is focused on liquidation to distribute to creditors. 

In the filing, SafeMoon said that it has property that needs attention including “cryptocurrency, intellectual property and other intangible assets.”

The assets are expected to be worth $10 to $50 million, with anywhere from $100,000 to $500,000 in estimated liabilities. 

It listed roughly 50 to 99 creditors in the filing.

The filing comes a little over a month after the US Securities and Exchange Commission filed a suit against both SafeMoon and some of its top executives. 

Read more: SafeMoon accused of securities fraud in SEC lawsuit

The SEC alleged that Safemoon, creator Kyle Nagy, CEO John Karony and Chief Technology Officer Thomas Smith “perpetrat[ed] a massive fraudulent scheme.”

The US Department of Justice arrested Karony and Smith, though Nagy remains at large, per a press release last month from the department. 

The SEC and DOJ both claim that the executives “misled investors” and used money to buy luxury vehicles — including a “custom Porsche” and multiple McLarens — and luxury real estate.

“Critically, Nagy represented in marketing materials, his white paper, and website that these retained assets would be ‘locked’ and inaccessible for at least four years. Smith and Karony repeated and disseminated these false representations in social media posts and other communications with the public,” the SEC complaint said.

According to data from CoinGecko, SafeMoon’s token (SFM) is down roughly 36% in the past 24 hours, and down 98% from its all time high.


Start your day with top crypto insights from David Canellis and Katherine Ross. Subscribe to the Empire newsletter.

Explore the growing intersection between crypto, macroeconomics, policy and finance with Ben Strack, Casey Wagner and Felix Jauvin. Subscribe to the Forward Guidance newsletter.

Get alpha directly in your inbox with the 0xResearch newsletter — market highlights, charts, degen trade ideas, governance updates, and more.

The Lightspeed newsletter is all things Solana, in your inbox, every day. Subscribe to daily Solana news from Jack Kubinec and Jeff Albus.

Tags

Upcoming Events

Javits Center North | 445 11th Ave

Tues - Thurs, March 18 - 20, 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.

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.

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

The L2 ecosystem has evolved into a complex landscape, with over $17B in market value and $50B in secured assets. While traditionally seen as high-beta plays on Ethereum, no L2 token achieved a beta higher than 1.0 relative to ETH in 2024. Furthermore, token dilution significantly impacted the sector, with a 1% increase in circulating supply corresponding to a 1.4% decrease in returns.

Key figures including Vitalik Buterin struggle to communicate the network’s core mission in an era of memecoin-minimized attention spans

article-image

World Liberty Financial has been busy buying crypto ahead of its launch

article-image

Trump’s token is setting the “tone” for crypto, Empire co-host Santiago Santos said

article-image

A pair of fundraises by Tapestry and Oh both came with expansive ideas about the future of AI and the role of humans in it

article-image

The Calamos Bitcoin Structured Alt Protection ETF — January is set to offer “systematic risk management” across its roughly one-year outcome period

article-image

Crypto industry elites (and a journalist or two) donned black tie at the Crypto Ball Friday night