CFTC v. Michael Griffis and Amanda Griffis (2023)
Settled
Checked against the primary document on October 4, 2026. The library's summary, tags and figures for this record were compared with the regulator's own document by an AI model (Claude) following written instructions, with sampled and disputed records read a second time. No lawyer has reviewed them. A checked record can still contain errors, and checked does not mean endorsed. See how we check records or report a correction.
In July 2023 the CFTC charged Michael Griffis and Amanda Griffis, Tennessee realtors, over a crypto commodity pool. A consent order announced on September 25, 2025 requires $5,528,121 in restitution and a $1,355,232 civil penalty, and bans them from trading and registration.
The record
| Agency | CFTC |
|---|---|
| Release number | 8757-23 |
| Date filed | 2023-07-25 |
| Date resolved | 2025-09-25 |
| Court | U.S. District Court, Middle District of Tennessee |
| Status | settled |
| Asset class | crypto, futures |
| Criminal parallel | No |
| Defendants | Michael Griffis ; Amanda Griffis |
| Techniques |
What was ordered
- Civil penalty
- $1.4m
- Disgorgement
- —
- Prejudgment interest
- —
- Total relief
- $1.4m
- Alleged gain
- —
What is alleged to have happened
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission announced this matter on July 25, 2023 as release 8757-23. The complaint alleges that the Tennessee realtors took over $6 million from more than 100 people for a crypto futures pool, sent over $4 million to wallets beyond recovery, and misappropriated the remainder, including Ponzi-like payments.
This library does not tag the matter as a Ponzi scheme: on a source check, the document mentions Ponzi-like payments only in passing, or as part of another party's scheme, and the charges are about something else. The tagging is ours, not the regulator's: agencies charge statutory provisions, not technique names.
On September 25, 2025 the CFTC announced that the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee had entered a consent order against both defendants. As the CFTC describes it, the order requires $5,528,121 in restitution and a civil monetary penalty of $1,355,232, permanently bars them from trading and from registering with the CFTC, and enjoins further violations. The release says the order resolves the action filed in July 2023.
The release describes the court's findings: about 145 people contributed more than $6.5 million to a pool called Blessings Thru Crypto, and more than $4 million went to an overseas platform. Because the order was by consent, those findings were not tried. The date recorded is the CFTC's announcement date; the release does not give the entry date.
Timeline
- 2023-07-25 CFTC release published
- 2025-09-25 CFTC announces consent order
Primary documents
Everything on this page derives from the documents below. Where our summary and the primary document disagree, the primary document is right.