Judge Plays 'No Wallet Left Behind' in $440M TradeAI Saga, Approves ETH‑Address Subpoenas

A federal court in New York's Southern District has refused to let the $440 million TradeAI/Stakx lawsuit rug pull itself. Judge Lewis Kaplan denied the defendants' motion to dismiss, swatting away their jurisdictional, venue, and service complaints like so many weak arguments against a bull market.

The 2024 case alleges a crew of individuals operated a classic Ponzi scheme, just dressed in the latest Web3 finery—NFTs and crypto investment pools. Plaintiffs claim investors were lured into "pods" or "syndicates" with promises of alpha yields that turned out to be pure vaporware, with losses already stacking past $20 million.

Defendant Cyrus Abraham tried the "you can't serve me if you can't find me" play. The court acknowledged some procedural glitches but called it a transparent game of hide-and-seek, noting Abraham was fully aware of the lawsuit. He's now been ordered to dox his own IRL address by March 31 or face a default judgment and potential sanctions, with the new formal-service deadline set for April 22.

Embracing the crypto-native reality of the mess, the court greenlit some creatively modern serving options—legal notices can now be airdropped via Ethereum wallet addresses, emailed, or even slid into DMs, proving subpoenas can be as versatile as a memecoin's use case.

The drama boasts a juicy subplot starring Dubai. ElizaOS founder Shaw took to Twitter to blast Burwick Law, accusing them of failing victims and vowing never to promise actual utility for a token—a shockingly rare pledge in this space. Burwick fired back, calling the statements false, warning Shaw about his language, and noting his since-deleted threat to sue.

Another defendant proving harder to pin down than a genuine use case, Peter McInnes, is tied to Dubai real estate and art ventures. The legal question, however, remains squarely on whether TradeAI/Stakx was running a fraudulent investment scheme under U.S. securities law, not an art gallery.

This ruling lands as the wider crypto market rides its latest rollercoaster loop. Total market cap pumped over 3% in 24 hours to roughly $2.43 trillion. The NFT market cap is holding at about $2.226 billion, with CryptoPunks still reigning as the liquidity blue-chip at 284,800 ETH (≈$612 million). Ether itself enjoyed a nice green candle, surging more than 5% to trade around $2,150.