Braden John Karony, the former chief executive of SafeMoon US LLC, has been sentenced to more than eight years in federal prison for his role in a cryptocurrency scheme that prosecutors say misled investors and financed an extravagant personal lifestyle.
Karony, 29, of Utah, was sentenced Tuesday in federal court and ordered to forfeit roughly $7.5 million, along with two residential properties, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York. Federal authorities say the funds were tied to digital assets he improperly diverted from the SafeMoon project.
Prosecutors argued that Karony abused his position at the helm of the crypto company, siphoning more than $9 million in investor funds to pay for high-end purchases that included luxury homes, an Audi R8 sports car, a Tesla, and a custom-built Ford F-550 truck.
In May, a federal jury found Karony guilty of conspiracy to commit securities fraud, wire fraud, and money laundering. The verdict followed a trial that focused on the inner workings of SafeMoon, a cryptocurrency launched in 2021 that at its peak reached a market capitalization of more than $8 billion.
According to court filings, every SafeMoon transaction carried a 10 percent fee. Investors were told that the fee would be split evenly, with half redistributed to token holders and the other half placed into a liquidity pool designed to support stable trading. Prosecutors said the liquidity portion was marketed as being “locked” and inaccessible for personal use.
Instead, authorities allege Karony and his co-conspirators secretly withdrew millions of dollars from the liquidity pool, using the funds for their own benefit while continuing to promote SafeMoon as a secure investment. The scheme unraveled as investigators traced the movement of crypto assets to personal accounts and luxury purchases.
One co-conspirator, Thomas Smith, pleaded guilty in February 2025 and is awaiting sentencing. Another alleged participant, Kyle Nagy, remains at large, according to federal prosecutors.
The sentencing marks a significant chapter in one of the most high-profile crypto fraud cases tied to the boom-and-bust cycle of digital assets. As regulators continue to scrutinize the industry, the SafeMoon case stands as a reminder of the risks investors face in largely unregulated markets and the legal consequences for those who exploit them.
