CLS Global FZC LLC, a financial services firm known in the cryptocurrency industry as a “market maker,” has been sentenced in federal court in Boston for criminal charges relating to its fraudulent manipulation of cryptocurrency trading volume.
CLS Global has been ordered to pay a total of $428,059 to the government, representing both a fine and seized cryptocurrency.
The court also sentenced CLS Global to a term of probation for three years, during which CLS Global is prohibited from participating in U.S. cryptocurrency markets.
CLS Global pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit market manipulation and wire fraud and one count of wire fraud in January 2025. It was charged criminally in September 2024.
CLS Global provided “market making” and other services for cryptocurrency companies through its public website and other promotional materials.
CLS Global was a company registered in the United Arab Emirates that employed over 50 individuals, all located outside the United States, but offered services related to cryptocurrencies available to investors inside the United States.
The charges against CLS Global followed an undercover law enforcement operation targeting cryptocurrency “wash trading,” a sham trading activity intended to attract investors.
The investigation included the creation of NexFundAI, a purported cryptocurrency company that had a website (https://nexfundai.com) and an Ethereum-based token that traded on the Uniswap cryptocurrency exchange before being disabled by law enforcement.
CLS Global agreed to provide market-making services for the NexFundAI token, which included “wash trading,” to attract investors to purchase the token fraudulently.
During several videoconferences between July and August 2024, a CLS Global employee explained that the company could “help with volume generation” so that NexFundAI could meet cryptocurrency exchange listing requirements and attract purchasers of the NexFundAI token.
The employee explained that CLS Global used an algorithm that “basically does self-trades, buying and selling. . . from multiple wallets so it’s not visible” and so “it looks like organic buying and selling that is happening.”
The employee further explained, “It’s very hard to track. . . . We’ve been doing that for many clients.” The employee also acknowledged, “I know that it’s wash trading and I know people might not be happy about it.”
CLS Global’s employee provided a “Market Making proposal” which, in a section titled “Volume Support,” contained an illustration of the CLS Global “dashboard” that reflected “total volume,” “CLS volume” and “external volume.”
Traders employed by CLS Global subsequently bought and sold the NexFundAI token on the Uniswap cryptocurrency exchange using CLS Global’s trading wallets and provided reports on the trading activity created by the “volume generation algorithm.”
As part of its sentence, CLS Global is prohibited from participating in cryptocurrency transactions on trading platforms available to investors located in the United States or providing services to cryptocurrency clients based in the United States, as set forth in the plea agreement.
CLS Global is also required to make annual certifications that its business practices conform to these prohibitions.
The Securities & Exchange Commission brought a related civil enforcement action alleging violations of the securities laws and has entered into a separate resolution with CLS Global.
Money seized from or paid by CLS Global will be credited in both the criminal and SEC resolutions.
