The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has filed a lawsuit against crypto mining investment business Mining Automatic and its founder, Zan Shaikh. The agency alleges that the company raised $22 million from more than 380 investors between June 2023 and May 2025.
Mining Automatic was operated by Massachusetts-based Bright Vision Distribution LLC, which allegedly promised guaranteed monthly returns from crypto asset mining despite operating a business that could not generate the advertised payouts.
The SEC says investor money was used for marketing, personal expenses, and unrelated ventures. The operation generated about $1.1 million from mining while paying investors roughly $1.8 million in purported returns.
The agency alleges that some payments were funded with money from other investors, giving the scheme 'some of the hallmarks of a Ponzi scheme.' Mining Automatic stopped paying investors by March 2025, and the SEC says none have recovered their original investment.