SEC Sues Donald Basile Over $16M Bitcoin Latinum SAFT Sales
SEC sues Donald Basile and two firms, alleging $16 million raised selling SAFTs for Bitcoin Latinum were falsely marketed as insured and asset-backed and funds were diverted.
The Securities and Exchange Commission filed a complaint Friday in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York against crypto executive Donald Basile and two companies he controlled, alleging they raised about $16 million by selling Simple Agreements for Future Tokens, or SAFTs, tied to a token called Bitcoin Latinum.
The complaint alleges the offering ran from March through December 2021 and was conducted through Monsoon Blockchain Corp. and GIBF GP Inc. The SAFTs promised future delivery of Bitcoin Latinum and promoted the token as asset-backed and insured. The filing asserts no insurance provider ever issued coverage or provided proof to support those claims. The Bitcoin Latinum website currently returns a 404 error.
The SEC asserts that millions of dollars from the offering were moved away from supporting the token and used for personal expenses. The complaint identifies real estate purchases, credit card payments and the purchase of a $160,000 horse among the alleged misuses of investor funds.
The agency asks the court for permanent injunctions, repayment of allegedly ill-gotten gains with interest, civil penalties, a ban on Basile’s participation in securities offerings and an officer-and-director bar that would prevent him from leading public companies.
SAFTs are contracts that promise delivery of digital tokens once those tokens are developed or launched. The SEC frames the SAFT sales in its complaint as securities offerings that included specific claims about insurance and backing that the agency alleges were untrue. The suit requests disgorgement and other remedies intended to return money to investors and prevent further violations of securities laws.
The filing comes as the SEC has described a refocusing of enforcement priorities. The agency reported bringing 95 actions since fiscal 2022 and collecting $2.3 billion in penalties for book-and-record violations. Under Chair Paul Atkins, appointed in 2025, the agency has said it is prioritizing fraud, market manipulation and serious abuses of trust.
The case adds to regulatory scrutiny of token sales and the representations firms make when raising capital from retail and accredited investors.
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