According to an announcement issued by the CFTC, the commission recovered $18 million worth of digital assets linked to an alleged commodity pool Ponzi scheme. Sam Ikkurty, an Oregon man, is allegedly accused of defrauding investors from an alleged "crypto hedge fund" in which Ikkurty promised to return "net profit" to investors but failed to deliver, not even telling investors that the fund's performance had dropped 98.99% in a few months. U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois Judge Mary Rowland ordered Ikkurty and several other related entities to pay a total of $209 million in fines, including nearly $84 million in customer damages, about $37 million in illegal earnings refunds, and about $110 million in civil penalties. Ikkurty was also ordered to pay more than $14 million in contempt fines.