Former SafeMoon Leader to Face Consequences for Withdrawal from Liquidity Pools, 2026/02/11 13:11:34

The former CEO of SafeMoon, Braden John Karony, has been sentenced to 100 months, which equates to over eight years, in prison. Additionally, he is required to pay a fine of approximately $7.5 million, as reported by the New York prosecutor’s office.

Furthermore, the court has ordered the confiscation of two residential properties owned by Karony. According to case documents, the former CEO of SafeMoon deceived investors to fund his lavish lifestyle. In total, Karony is alleged to have misappropriated over $9 million in digital assets from the company, according to prosecutors. A significant portion of these funds was spent on personal expenses, including the purchase of a $2.2 million home in Utah, an Audi R8 sports car, a Tesla electric vehicle, and a Ford F-550 truck. 

Since 2021, SafeMoon has been issuing its namesake digital assets. At its peak, the project’s market capitalization exceeded $8 billion. The platform’s operational mechanism included an automatic 10% fee on each transaction: when a holder transferred tokens to another user, a portion of the amount was retained. The company informed investors that the proceeds from this fee would be split into two equal parts. One part was intended for liquidity pools, while the other was to be used for providing “other benefits to token holders.” However, prosecutors claim that Karony and his accomplices unlawfully withdrew millions of dollars from the liquidity pools and simply appropriated them. 

In May, a federal jury found Karony guilty of conspiracy to commit securities fraud, wire fraud, and money laundering. Regarding Karony’s colleagues at SafeMoon, one of them, Thomas Smith, pleaded guilty in February 2025 and is now awaiting sentencing. Another accomplice, Kyle Nadji, remains at large.