A U.S. court has ordered the head of bitcoin (BTC) pool operator Mirror Trading International (MTI) to pay $3.4 billion in restitution and penalties, the country's top commodities watchdog said in a Thursday statement.

The sum constitutes the highest civil monetary penalty ordered in any case brought by the the Commodities Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), the regulator said.

The CFTC charged South Africa-based Cornelius Johannes Steynbergwith fraud in June 2022, alleging the "controlling person" at MTI accepted 29,421 BTC (valued at more than $1.7 billion at the time of acceptance) from 23,000 Americans for running an unlicensed commodity pool scheme.

MTI is undergoing liquidation in South Africa, according to the CFTC announcement, while Steynberg is a fugitive from South African law enforcement who has been detained in Brazil since December 2021.

The order finds MTI "liable for fraud in connection with retail foreign currency (forex) transactions, fraud by an associated person of a commodity pool operator (CPO), registration violations, and failure to comply with CPO regulations."

In addition to the multi-billion-dollar penalty, Steynberg is permanently prohibited from registering with the CFTC, and trading in any markets regulated by the watchdog.

Regulations South Africa CFTC Bitcoin Fraud US

Sandali Handagama

Sandali Handagama is CoinDesk's deputy managing editor for policy and regulations, EMEA. She is an alumna of Columbia University's graduate school of journalism and has contributed to a variety of publications including The Guardian, Bloomberg, The Nation and Popular Science. Sandali doesn't own any crypto and she tweets as @iamsandali