TL;DR
- Investors file a $100M lawsuit against Cere Network’s founder for fraud and massive token dumping.
- Insiders reportedly sold tens of millions in tokens immediately after the public launch.
- The CERE token has collapsed over 99% from its peak following the 2021 initial coin offering.
Investors filed a $100 million federal lawsuit accusing Cere Network’s founder and other insiders of fraud, racketeering and massive token selling following its 2021 initial coin offering.
The complaint, filed Tuesday, names Fred Jin, described as Cere’s founder and “ringleader,” along with other defendants accused of misleading investors about the project’s business prospects, token lockups and customer adoption.
Cere Network positions itself as a decentralized cloud data platform designed to allow secure data collaboration between blockchain and traditional systems.
According to the lawsuit, Jin pitched Cere as a blockchain-native alternative to traditional cloud storage, backed by a proprietary crypto asset known as Cere Token, which would be used for payments and governance on the network.
Investors were told the token would eventually be listed on major exchanges, including Binance, and that proceeds from token sales would fund the buildout of Cere’s infrastructure.
Lead Plaintiff Served as Senior Strategic Advisor
One of the plaintiffs, Lujunjin “Vivian” Liu, says she was brought on as senior strategic advisor and compensated in CERE tokens while also investing personally and through Goopal Digital Ltd., an investment firm she was affiliated with. From 2019 through 2021, Liu says she spent up to 20 hours weekly helping with fundraising, investor introductions and token planning ahead of the public sale.
Cere raised nearly $50 million through private and public token sales in November 2021, according to the filing. Investors were told insiders’ tokens would be subject to lockups to prevent early selling, a common practice intended to protect public buyers.
The complaint alleged the representations were false. Plaintiffs claim Jin and other insiders sold tens of millions of dollars worth of tokens immediately after launch, triggering a sharp price collapse. Liu and Goopal are seeking $25 million in compensatory damages and $75 million in punitive damages, citing what they describe as the scale of the alleged fraud.
CERE fell from approximately $0.45 at launch to $0.06 within weeks, and was trading near $0.0012 on Thursday—a drop of more than 99% from its peak.
The lawsuit also alleges Cere overstated customer traction, technical readiness and enterprise adoption, including claims about Fortune 1000 clients that plaintiffs say were misleading or untrue. Plaintiffs argue proceeds from token sales were used to enrich insiders rather than build the business.
