News 
May 21, 2025 
3 min. 
In a major legal development, a New York jury has found Braden John Karony, the former CEO of SafeMoon (SFM), guilty on all major criminal counts, including conspiracy to commit securities fraud, wire fraud, and money laundering. The verdict, delivered on Wednesday, May 21, comes after a high-profile two-week trial initiated by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ).
Prosecutors presented evidence that Karony, along with former CTO Thomas Smith and project founder Kyle Nagy, systematically misappropriated millions in investor funds between 2021 and 2022. Central to the allegations was the draining of SafeMoon’s supposedly locked liquidity pools for personal enrichment, defrauding retail investors in the process.
While Smith has already entered a guilty plea and cooperated with authorities, testifying against Karony during the trial, Nagy remains at large, believed to be hiding in Russia. Karony is being held in custody pending sentencing, and federal agents have seized assets worth over $1.8 million linked to the case.
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Market Fallout: SafeMoon Price Tanks Amid Legal Turmoil
The conviction has further worsened investor sentiment surrounding the troubled SafeMoon project. Once valued near $1 billion, the token’s market cap has now cratered to approximately $7.5 million, according to real-time data from our crypto analytics dashboard.
Shortly after the jury’s decision, SFM price dropped over 4%, trading at just $0.00002 in late Wednesday trading. While major altcoins like BNB and Dogecoin showed signs of recovery, fueled by Bitcoin’s 4% rally to $109k, SafeMoon continued its downward trajectory, burdened by legal and reputational damage.
Conclusion
The SafeMoon case underscores growing regulatory scrutiny in the crypto space, especially toward DeFi projects making bold liquidity and transparency claims. With Karony convicted and Nagy still on the run, the once-hyped token faces an uphill battle to regain investor trust and market stability.
