Uphold Rejects New York Claims After $5M Customer Repayment Deal

Uphold rejected New York’s CredEarn settlement claims, saying the regulator misrepresented its role in Cred LLC’s collapse. The company agreed to more than $5 million in customer repayment while denying knowledge of alleged fraud or any intent to mislead customers.

Key Takeaways:

The settlement includes more than $5 million in customer repayment, broker registration, stronger third-party due diligence, and the transfer of any Cred bankruptcy recoveries to harmed investors. The company explained the payment was tied to statements it repeated from Cred that later proved false. CEO Simon McLoughlin said on social media platform X on May 4:

“We agreed to pay $5M to customers, mainly because we unwittingly repeated statements made by Cred about its services that later turned out to be untrue.”

The firm argued the New York Office of the Attorney General’s public statement conflicted with the agreed facts and wrongly suggested intentional misconduct. It emphasized that it did not admit liability under the settlement and rejected any claim that it knowingly promoted Cred’s conduct.

The company said its intervention helped expose Cred’s misconduct and prevent further customer exposure. It also confirmed it later cooperated with federal authorities in the prosecution of Cred executives. The company added:

“Uphold, like its customers and CredEarn’s other users, was a victim of Cred’s deception. The U.S. Department of Justice correctly identified Uphold as a victim in its criminal prosecution of the Cred executives involved.”

The digital asset platform maintained it remains focused on transparency, compliance, and user protection while continuing to reject New York’s characterization of its role.