SEC accuses unregistered adviser of stealing $6.3 million from Discord investors

The SEC accused a 26-year-old of posing as an experienced adviser while allegedly stealing $6.3 million from investors he recruited through Discord. 

Nathan Gauvin fabricated his professional credentials and falsified investment returns to raise $18.1 million from more than 40 investors between September 2022 and November 2024, the Securities and Exchange Commission said in a filing Wednesday in federal court in New York. 

Gauvin presented himself on LinkedIn and through his firm's website as an accomplished investment professional with experience at prominent financial firms, according to the regulator. In reality, he had no formal financial education or experience and had never worked at any of the firms he claimed on his resume. 

The Canadian allegedly claimed his company, Blackridge, managed $1.7 billion in assets when it was merely a shell entity. He used this fabricated backdrop to launch Gray Digital Capital Management and the Gray Fund in March 2022, targeting retail investors he recruited through Discord and social media. 

From February 2023 to January 2025, Gauvin and Gray Digital reported monthly returns ranging from 1.14% to 21.14%, with double-digit returns claimed in 17 of 24 months, the SEC said. The actual trading in accounts held on behalf of the Gray Fund generated monthly compounded returns of approximately 1.4%. 

To back up the false performance claims, Gauvin repeatedly posted doctored brokerage statements to investors on Discord, the regulator said. He altered legitimate statements from a Connecticut-based brokerage to inflate asset values and changed the account holder name from Blackridge to Gray Digital or Gray Market. 

In August 2023, Gray Digital posted a fabricated statement claiming $14 million in assets when the actual account held just $3.1 million, according to the SEC. By March 2024, a doctored statement claimed over $52 million while the primary brokerage account showed less than $19,000. 

The regulator said Gauvin even hired the South African affiliate of an international accounting and consulting firm to verify the fund's assets, but provided the firm with falsified statements. The resulting January 2024 report claimed $37 million in assets when the actual account held $7.5 million. 

Gauvin also fabricated a $5 million line of credit from Saudi National Bank, according to the SEC. The contract he posted appears to be a modified version of a publicly available document filed by another company, meant for physical goods rather than financial assets. 

When investors began requesting withdrawals in mid-2024, Gauvin stopped honoring the requests and blamed "malicious persons" and "banking issues," the regulator said. 

The SEC said Gauvin misappropriated approximately $6.3 million, transferring over $2.8 million to personal accounts. He allegedly spent investor money on custom jewelry (approximately $250,000), luxury concierge services (more than $100,000), real estate expenses (approximately $180,000), and art purchases (more than $250,000). 

In May 2024, Gauvin launched a second offering, selling shares in Gray Digital Technologies at $30,000 each with claims of a $60 million valuation and over $12 million in annual revenue, according to the regulator. The entity had no assets or revenue. Two investors contributed $60,000 before Gauvin stopped communicating and never delivered promised NFTs representing ownership. 

Neither Gauvin nor his entities were registered with the SEC. The regulator is seeking permanent injunctions, disgorgement of ill-gotten gains, and civil penalties.