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Investors accuse Cere Network of $100 million fraud and token-dump scheme in lawsuit

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Investors accuse Cere Network of $100 million fraud and token-dump scheme in lawsuit

Plaintiffs say insiders sold millions of dollars’ worth of tokens immediately after Cere’s 2021 ICO, sending prices into a near-total collapse.

By Shaurya Malwa|Edited by Omkar Godbole
Updated Jan 29, 2026, 11:57 a.m. Published Jan 29, 2026, 11:34 a.m.
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What to know:

  • Investors have filed a $100 million federal lawsuit accusing Cere Network’s founder and other insiders of fraud.
  • The complaint alleges Cere executives misled backers about token lockups, customer adoption and technical readiness, while insiders allegedly sold tens of millions of dollars’ worth of tokens.
  • Lead plaintiff Lujunjin “Vivian” Liu, a former senior strategic adviser who was paid and invested in Cere Tokens, and Goopal Digital Ltd. are seeking $25 million in compensatory damages and $75 million in punitive damages.

Investors have filed a $100 million lawsuit in U.S. federal court against individuals and entities tied to Cere Network, a San Francisco-based blockchain data storage project, alleging fraud, racketeering and a large-scale token dump 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.

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Cere Network positions itself as a decentralized cloud data platform designed to allow secure data collaboration across 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.

One of the plaintiffs, Lujunjin “Vivian” Liu, says she was brought on as a 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 a week 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 that insiders’ tokens would be subject to lockups to prevent early selling, a common practice intended to protect public buyers.

The complaint alleged those representations were false. Plaintiffs claim Jin and other insiders sold tens of millions of dollars’ worth of tokens immediately after the launch, triggering a sharp collapse in price.

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 about $0.45 at launch to $0.06 within weeks, and was trading near $0.0012 as of 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.

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