Signal trading ‘school’ and fake exchange rob investor of $860K: Lawsuit

A Florida investor says he was scammed out of $860,000 by a Denver-based trading “school” and a fake crypto exchange that promised him life-changing profits.

In a lawsuit filed last week in federal court, Brian Firestone alleges that the Alpha Stock Investment Training Center (ASITC), which operated out of downtown Denver, partnered with a fraudulent exchange called CoinBridge Partners in Cherry Creek to carry out the scheme.

Firestone says he was first approached in December by a man named John Smith, who claimed to represent ASITC. Smith offered to teach cryptocurrency trading and gifted him $500 to start.

The trading school’s website, now defunct, listed its address as 1660 Lincoln St. and directed users to trade via CoinBridge, which claimed to have raised $10 million from 600 investors. “CoinBridge is really an entirely fake exchange,” Firestone wrote in the complaint.

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Crypto school used trade signals to lure investors

ASITC allegedly used a method called signal trading. According to the suit, “professors” would message participants like Firestone with exact trade instructions at a specific time. Students would then click to execute the trade via their CoinBridge account.

Firestone says his initial $500 quickly ballooned to $55,000, prompting him to invest $50,000 more in January. Within weeks, his balance showed $2 million.

“Professor, I must thank you,” Firestone texted Smith on Feb. 8. “My results were outstanding. Thank you for letting me in this trade today. This is so exciting!”

However, the excitement didn’t last. A losing trade reportedly brought his balance down to $12,000. Firestone then wired $470,000 in cash and took a $330,000 loan from ASITC to continue trading. He says his CoinBridge account jumped to $24.5 million, until a trade in USDT on March 9 failed to execute.

“I can’t close it,” Firestone messaged Smith. “I ncant clpsoe it.” Firestone was told a “system error” caused the glitch and erased his balance.

Two days later, he borrowed $1 million more from ASITC, bringing his account to $6.6 million. However, when he couldn’t repay part of the loan, ASITC allegedly shut his account down on May 1.

The suit accuses ASITC, CoinBridge, Smith, and founder Raymond Torres of fraud, theft, and racketeering. The real Coinbridge Partners in Wyoming has denied any connection to the alleged scam.

Related: There’s more to crypto crime than meets the eye: What you need to know

$2.1B crypto stolen in 2025

So far in 2025, over $2.1 billion has been stolen in crypto-related incidents, with most losses tied to wallet compromises and key mismanagement, CertiK co-founder Ronghui Gu said. The trend points to a growing shift from code-based hacks to targeting user behavior.

In 2024 alone, phishing attacks accounted for over $1 billion in losses across nearly 300 incidents, making it the most damaging method of attack in the crypto space.

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