Braden John Karony

What the public record shows

Braden John Karony was the CEO of SafeMoon US LLC, promoter of the “SafeMoon” decentralized-finance token. A federal jury convicted him in May 2025 — after a three-week trial — of conspiracy to commit securities fraud, wire fraud, and money laundering. He was sentenced to 100 months in prison and ordered to forfeit approximately $7.5 million plus two residential properties. This is a criminal conviction — not an allegation.

The scheme

According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York:

• SafeMoon marketed its token to the public with claims that its “liquidity pool” was locked and safe — inaccessible even to insiders.
• In reality, Karony exploited his access to that liquidity pool to divert and misappropriate millions in cryptocurrency.
• He spent investor money on million-dollar homes and luxury cars, and moved over $9 million in crypto through complex transactions to obscure the trail.

Why we rate this 1 / 10 — Avoid

A jury conviction and an eight-plus-year sentence for a textbook “rug pull” — the DeFi version of taking the money that was promised to be untouchable. “Locked liquidity” is only as real as the code and the custody behind it.

Verify it yourself

• DOJ press releases (E.D.N.Y.) — linked in Sources.
• PACER — United States v. Karony, E.D.N.Y.

Bottom line

Convicted and sentenced. In crypto, “locked,” “safe,” and “can’t be touched” are marketing words until an independent audit of the smart contract proves them. Verify the contract, not the tweet.

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