Investors Sue Cere Network and Founder Fred Jin for $100M, Allege Fraud and Massive CERE Token Dump

Investors have launched a $100 million federal lawsuit accusing Cere Network executives and associated entities of orchestrating a fraud and large-scale token-dump after the project’s 2021 token sale.

Filed Tuesday in U.S. federal court, the complaint names Fred Jin — identified as Cere’s founder and the suit’s “ringleader” — along with other defendants. Plaintiffs say the San Francisco–based blockchain data storage startup misled investors about product readiness, customer adoption and promised token lockups, then sold off massive amounts of CERE tokens shortly after the public offering, triggering a price collapse.

Cere pitched itself as a decentralized cloud data platform that would let organizations securely collaborate across blockchain and conventional systems. The project’s native crypto asset, CERE, was billed as the network’s payment and governance token; investors were told proceeds from token sales would fund infrastructure buildout and that the token would eventually list on major exchanges, including Binance.

One plaintiff, Lujunjin “Vivian” Liu, says she was recruited as a senior strategic advisor and paid in CERE tokens while also investing personally and through Goopal Digital Ltd., an affiliated investment firm. Liu claims she worked up to 20 hours a week from 2019 through 2021 on fundraising, investor introductions and token planning ahead of the public sale.

According to the filing, Cere raised nearly $50 million via private and public token sales in November 2021. Investors were allegedly told insiders’ tokens would be subject to lockups to prevent early selling — a safeguard the complaint calls false. Plaintiffs contend Jin and other insiders sold tens of millions of dollars in tokens soon after launch, causing CERE to plunge from roughly $0.45 at launch to $0.06 within weeks, and to about $0.0012 as of Thursday — a drop of more than 99% from its peak.

The suit accuses the defendants of overstating customer traction, technical readiness and enterprise adoption — including claims of Fortune 1000 clients that plaintiffs say were misleading — and alleges token-sale proceeds were used to enrich insiders rather than build the business. Liu and Goopal seek $25 million in compensatory damages and $75 million in punitive damages.

The complaint frames the case as fraud and racketeering tied to the token sale and alleged post-launch sell-off. Cere and the individuals named have not yet publicly responded in the filing, and the allegations remain unproven in court.

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