Court Rules Against Debiex in $2.5M "Pig Butchering" Case

Crypto News Regulation

Court Rules Against Debiex in $2.5 Million "Pig Butchering" Case

Written by Aaron S.,

Editor-In-Chief

Last Updated: March 17, 2025

Key Takeaways

Debiex must pay $2.5 million after a US federal court ruled it ran a romance-based crypto scam;
The scheme tricked victims into investing by posing as successful traders;
Debiex faked trading results while redirecting deposits to hidden wallets.

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Court Rules Against Debiex in $2.5 Million "Pig Butchering" Case

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A federal court in Arizona has ruled that Debiex, a crypto trading platform, must pay about $2.5 million after failing to respond to allegations from the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).

The platform was accused of running a romance investment scam, commonly known as "pig butchering".

On March 13, Judge Douglas Rayes approved the CFTC’s request for a summary judgment. The ruling requires Debiex to return around $2.26 million taken from victims and pay an additional penalty of nearly $221,500. The judge also stated that Debiex’s failure to answer the charges was not due to a reasonable excuse.

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According to the CFTC, Debiex marketed itself as a "Blockchain Network Decentralized perpetual contract trading platform", which promotes futures trading and so-called "Mining transactions".

The scam relied on fake personas, with Debiex’s staff pretending to be successful traders. They engaged in frequent messaging and shared personal photos to make their stories seem believable.

After victims signed up and transferred funds, Debiex provided false account balances and fake trading results to make it appear as if their investments were growing. However, the CFTC stated that none of the trading activity was real, and the deposits were moved between different wallets to hide their final destination.

The scheme reportedly targeted at least five people, who collectively deposited about $2.3 million. Rather than being used for trading, the funds were redirected elsewhere.

Meanwhile, Rowland Marcus Andrade, the founder of AML Bitcoin (ABTC), was recently convicted of wire fraud and money laundering. How did the case unfold? Read the full story.