U.S. SEC charges Mining Automatic, Zan Shaikh over $22M crypto mining fraud

The U.S. SEC said it has charged Florida resident Zan Shaikh and his company, Mining Automatic, with a $22 million cryptocurrency mining investment fraud. The SEC said Mining Automatic raised about $22 million from more than 380 investors from June 2023 to May 2025 while promoting guaranteed monthly returns from cryptocurrency mining. The regulator said only about 13% of the funds raised was used for actual mining operations, with the rest diverted to marketing, recruiting new investors, and personal and other business expenses.