How the DOJ and SEC Cases Against BitClout's Nader Al-Naji Collapsed

Key Takeaways

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  DOJ and SEC dismissed all charges against Al-Naji

  “The cases that the SEC and the Department of Justice brought against Nader have been dismissed. The DOJ dismissed in March 2025, and the SEC dismissed with prejudice — meaning it can’t be refiled — in March 2026. This comes after the founder was charged with defrauding investors of $3 million and running an unregistered securities offering.”

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  Basis returned $140 million to investors in 2018

  “I ended up returning the entire $140 million to investors; they got back like 94 cents on the dollar. I also didn't pay myself while doing it, so I literally had less money after than when I started. I had full control of the entity and over 75% of the equity, so if I wanted to grab cash, I certainly could have, but I decided to do the right thing instead.”

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  DESO creates censorship-resistant social media on blockchain

  “DESO is short for decentralized social, and you can basically think of it as like Twitter or X, but on a blockchain. What that means is that when you make a post, it's actually stored on a fully decentralized blockchain and nobody can censor it. Just like nobody can take your Bitcoin, nobody can censor your content.”

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  Al-Naji mined early Bitcoin on college campus electricity

  “In 2012, when I was in college, I actually was able to mine 24 Bitcoin on free campus electricity. That's how easy it was to mine Bitcoin back then, you could just do it in your dorm. I remember I was so taken by it that I took a wad of cash to a CVS convenience store to send it to Mt. Gox just to buy more.”

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  Bank-backed stablecoins won via geopolitical alignment

  “It became clear to me that bank-backed stablecoins were going to win because they were what we referred to at the time as geopolitically aligned. This basically means they're not going to be shut down because they funnel foreign money into US treasuries. We realized that was going to happen in 2018 when Coinbase and Circle launched USDC.”

Episode Description

Debanked 12 times. Walked through an airport in handcuffs. Every charge eventually gone. Nader Al-Naji on the defense strategy that convinced both agencies to back off. ======================================================== Nexo is the premier digital wealth platform. Receive interest on your crypto, borrow against it without selling, and trade a range of assets. Now available in the U.S with 30 days of exclusive privileges.  Get started at http://nexo.com/unchained ======================================================== In July 2024, Nader Al-Naji was preparing to board a flight to Turkey when the FBI arrested him in front of with his wife and son and walked him in handcuffs through the airport.  The DOJ and SEC had jointly charged the DESO and BitClout founder with defrauding investors of $3 million and running an unregistered securities offering. Twenty months later, both cases are gone: the DOJ dismissed in March 2025, the SEC dismissed with prejudice — meaning it can’t be refiled — in March 2026.  Nader tells Laura what actually happened, from the FBI raid on his Beverly Hills home and the clerical error that sent him to federal prison for a weekend, to the legal strategy that convinced both agencies to back off. He also revisits the BitClout celebrity era, the long call with Do Kwon before Terra launched, and the debanking tactic he calls ‘subpoena sniping.’ Host: ⁠⁠⁠Laura Shin⁠⁠⁠, Host / Unchained Guests: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Nader Al-Naji (@nadertheory), Founder of DESO and BitClout Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices