// the token was fiction

They raised the funds. The project was never built.

Documented case files of initial coin offerings and token sales that collected investor funds on the basis of whitepapers, roadmaps, and celebrity endorsements and delivered nothing — each traced from the raise to the exit, with the amounts collected and the enforcement record.

15 ICO frauds Updated Jun 8, 2026

PA-001 · 2018

ICO fraud · Vietnam

Pincoin — Vietnam’s $660 Million Token Exit Left 32,000 Investors Empty-Handed

ico-token convicted ico-era

PIN / IFAN (ERC-20) · Convicted

PA-002 · 2017

ICO fraud · Canada

PlexCoin — The First ICO the SEC Stopped at Gunpoint Turned Into a 42-Month Sentence

ico-token convicted ico-era

PLXC (ERC-20) · Convicted

PA-003 · 2018

ICO fraud · United States

Centra Tech — A Fake Debit Card, Two Celebrity Endorsers, and Eight Years in Federal Prison

ico-token convicted ico-era

CTR (ERC-20) · Convicted

PA-004 · 2018

ICO fraud · United States

Titanium Blockchain — The Federal Reserve Never Called Back, and Neither Did PayPal

ico-token convicted ico-era

BAR (ERC-20) · Convicted

PA-005 · 2018

ICO fraud · Unknown jurisdiction

LoopX — An AI Trading Platform Whose Team Deleted Everything and Disappeared Overnight

ico-token at-large ico-era

LPX (ERC-20) · At-Large

PA-006 · 2018

ICO fraud · United States

AriseBank — The “World’s First Decentralized Bank” Was a Borrowed Fantasy

ico-token convicted ico-era

AriseCoin (ARISECOIN) · Convicted

PA-007 · 2017

ICO fraud · United States

REcoin — America’s First Criminal ICO Prosecution Began With a Brooklyn Lie

ico-token convicted ico-era

RECOIN / DRC · Convicted

PA-008 · 2019

ICO fraud · United States / Russia

ICOBox — The ICO Launchpad That Was Itself an Illegal ICO

ico-token convicted ico-era

ICOS (ERC-20) · Convicted

PA-009 · 2022

ICO fraud · United States

CoinDeal — A Phantom Acquisition That Took $45 Million from 10,000 Investors

ico-token convicted collapse-era

CoinDeal token (no public chain) · Convicted

PA-010 · 2019

ICO fraud · Switzerland

GPay Network — A Swiss-Registered ICO That Rebranded Until It Vanished

ico-token at-large ico-era

GPay / Kali-X token · At-Large

PA-011 · 2018

ICO fraud · United States

Paragon Coin — Cannabis Blockchain ICO Settled with the SEC, Never Delivered Its Product

ico-token convicted ico-era

PRG (ERC-20) · Convicted

PA-012 · 2019

ICO fraud · Unknown jurisdiction

WCX Exchange — A Low-Fee Exchange That Was Never Built, Then Simply Disappeared

ico-token at-large ico-era

WCXT (ERC-20) · At-Large

PA-013 · 2020

ICO fraud · United States

Meta 1 Coin — Sovereign-Citizen Gold Fantasy Ends in Federal Conviction

ico-token convicted defi-era

META1 (ERC-20) · Convicted

PA-014 · 2018

ICO fraud · Croatia

DavorCoin — A BitConnect Clone That Borrowed the Model and the Exit

ico-token at-large ico-era

DAV (ERC-20) · At-Large

PA-015 · 2018

ICO fraud · Lithuania

Prodeum — An $11 ICO Exit That Exposed the Era’s Due-Diligence Void

ico-token at-large ico-era

PRE (ERC-20) · At-Large