JPMorgan Chase is facing a lawsuit in the United States over claims that it enabled a $328 million cryptocurrency Ponzi scheme run by now-defunct firm Goliath Ventures.
Investors filed a proposed class action lawsuit on Tuesday in the US District Court for the Northern District of California. The complaint accuses the bank of ignoring suspicious financial activity and allowing Goliath Ventures to use its banking services to collect investor funds.
The lawsuit focuses on what it calls a contradiction between the bank’s public criticism of cryptocurrency and its alleged failure to stop fraudulent crypto-related transactions.
“Chase, by virtue of its Know Your Customer actually knew that Goliath was acting as a ‘private equity’ cryptocurrency pool operator investing money for investors, without being licensed at all to sell these investments,” the complaint states.
Complaint focuses on JPMorgan account activity
According to the lawsuit, JPMorgan was the main banking institution used by Goliath Ventures between January 2023 and May or June 2025.
Prosecutors say Goliath Ventures, which previously operated under the name Gen-Z Venture Firm, ran the alleged scheme from January 2023 through January 2026.
The complaint claims the company raised at least $328 million from more than 2,000 investors. During that time, around $253 million was deposited into a JPMorgan account identified as the “0305 account,” which the lawsuit says represents nearly two-thirds of all investor funds.
Of that amount, approximately $123 million was later transferred from the JPMorgan account to cryptocurrency wallets held by Goliath at Coinbase.
CEO arrested in criminal case
The US Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida announced on Feb. 24 that Goliath CEO Christopher Delgado had been arrested.
Delgado faces charges of wire fraud and money laundering and could face up to 30 years in federal prison if convicted.
Federal prosecutors allege that Delgado operated a Ponzi scheme in which money from new investors was used to pay returns to earlier investors. Authorities also claim he used investor funds to support a luxury lifestyle, including expensive cars, high-end watches, real estate, luxury vacations and costly business events.
Bank of America account also identified
A separate criminal complaint from the US government said Goliath also held accounts at Bank of America.
“Delgado was a co-signatory on the BOA 9136 account in the name of Goliath,” the Feb. 20 complaint states, adding that company directors told at least one investor that Delgado controlled the account.
Authorities said funds from investors were mainly deposited into JPMorgan’s 0305 account, Bank of America’s 9136 account, or transferred directly to cryptocurrency wallets held by Goliath on Coinbase.
The government also said Delgado was the sole signatory on the company’s Coinbase wallets.
Investors accuse JPMorgan of ignoring warning signs
The lawsuit was filed by a legal team from Shaw Lewenz, Sonn Law Group and Schwartzbaum. The first named plaintiff, investor Robby Alan Steele, said he invested $650,000 in the venture, including money from his retirement savings.
In the complaint, Steele claims JPMorgan ignored multiple warning signs involving Goliath and Delgado.
“Despite those red flags, Chase turned a blind eye and continued servicing the accounts used to perpetrate the fraud, earning substantial fees from the hundreds of millions of dollars it washed through Goliath and Delgado’s banking activities at Chase,” Steele said to Law360.
Steele said he initially invested $310,000 in cash and later added another $340,000 from his retirement savings.
“Chase knowingly permitted a bank customer — Goliath — to commingle investors’ money at Chase for cryptocurrency investments, and to use those funds from later investors to pay earlier investors’ money, in a classic Ponzi scheme fashion, all while Delgado bought millions and millions of dollars in cars, jewelry and real estate,” Steele explained to Law360.
More lawsuits may follow
Jordan Shaw, an attorney representing Steele, told Law360 the legal team is continuing to identify potential victims and others who may have played a role in the alleged scheme.
“We are being purposeful and precise in who we file against, to be complementary to the receiver and his efforts,” Shaw told Law360 adding, “The goal is not to duplicate efforts, but instead to maximize recovery.”
A court in Florida has also appointed Michael Budwick of Meland Budwick PA as receiver for Goliath Ventures to oversee the company’s assets following Delgado’s arrest.
Separately, investors have filed another proposed class action lawsuit in Florida against law firm Alston & Bird LLP, accusing it of drafting joint venture agreements that were allegedly used in the scheme.
Adam Schwartzbaum, another lawyer representing Steele, pointed out that JPMorgan leadership had previously warned about risks in cryptocurrency markets.
“Yet, when those very risks appeared in its own customer accounts, the bank allegedly failed to intervene to protect investors,” Schwartzbaum told Law 360.