SEC charges DEBT Box partners over alleged $200 million crypto offering fraud

The US Securities and Exchange Commission filed charges on October 28, 2026 against Blox Lending, LLC, its principal Jason R. Anderson, its joint venture partner Digital Licensing, Inc. (DLI), and DLI’s principals Schad Brannon and Roydon Nelson. The SEC alleges an offering fraud, branded DEBT Box, that raised at least $200 million from more than 100,000 retail investors worldwide.

What the SEC alleges

According to the complaint, from November 2021 through August 2023 the defendants sold investment contracts, in the form of license agreements, that gave investors rights to DEBT Box crypto assets. The assets were said to be tied to real-world projects such as oil, natural gas, agriculture, beverage distribution and real estate, whose royalties would fund “buy and burn” purchases that removed tokens from the market and raised their value.

The SEC alleges DEBT Box never received any revenue from those projects. To hide that, it says, Anderson and Blox used over $101 million of investor money to buy and burn the crypto assets, which the SEC says had the purpose and effect of Ponzi payments. Brannon, Nelson and DLI allegedly used investor funds to invest in or pay outside businesses, most of which owed DEBT Box no royalties.

The complaint, filed in federal court in Salt Lake City, charges Anderson and Blox with violating the antifraud provisions of the Securities Act and the Exchange Act, and DLI, Brannon and Nelson under Sections 17(a)(2) and (3) of the Securities Act. A company owned by Anderson, Business Funding Solutions, LLC, is named as a relief defendant. The claims against Anderson and Blox are allegations at the complaint stage.

Proposed settlements

Without admitting the allegations, Brannon, Nelson and DLI have consented to final judgments, subject to court approval. Brannon and Nelson would be barred for two years from taking part in securities offerings except for their own accounts. Nelson would pay disgorgement of $100,025, prejudgment interest of $12,942 and a $118,225 civil penalty; Brannon disgorgement of $85,000, prejudgment interest of $10,998 and a $118,225 penalty; and DLI a civil penalty of $591,127.

What it means for traders

The case turns on a common pitch: a token whose price is said to be supported by real-world income. A promise that outside revenue will buy back and burn tokens is only as good as that revenue, and the SEC alleges here that there was none.