Yotta Technologies

analysisYotta Technologies, Inc. is a Delaware corporation. California's DFPI gives its business address as San Francisco and its website as withyotta.com, and describes Adam Moelis as its co-founder, former chief executive and a board member; a copy of New York's registry shows it registered there as a foreign business corporation from March 10, 2020 (DOS ID 5724855), and a filing of March 1, 2026 names Ben Doyle as chief executive. The DFPI says Yotta offered high-interest savings accounts to California consumers without registering with the California Secretary of State. ^{1 2}

analysisYotta offered sweepstakes games and prizes to people who opened savings accounts with it. Its contract with Synapse of February 13, 2020 let it use Synapse's software to interface with Evolve. The federal court recorded that Evolve and Synapse worked together to service Yotta's customers, Evolve's systems processing certain transactions and Synapse others involving funds held with Evolve, and that Yotta and Evolve had no contract with each other. Yotta's disclosures named Evolve and Synapse Brokerage's program banks as providers of its banking services, Evolve as issuer of its debit card and Synapse Credit as the provider of its lending services. ^{3 4 5}

analysisAs the federal court summarised Yotta's complaint, Evolve suspended interest payments to Yotta in September 2023 and, in reply to its inquiries, said it was addressing contractual issues with Synapse while assuring Yotta that customers would be protected: Hank Word, Evolve's president of open banking, wrote on September 25, 2023, Scot Lenoir on October 3, adding that Yotta could move to another bank, and Evolve's outside counsel on November 2, describing a disagreement that could plausibly be resolved within weeks. The complaint alleges that Evolve suspended customers' access to all funds on May 11, 2024 and later acknowledged a shortfall of tens of millions of dollars. These are the plaintiff's allegations as recited by the court, and the case was dismissed without a ruling on them. ¹

analysisOn its customer status page Yotta said it learned on May 7, 2024 that Lineage Bank had halted ACH processing for all Synapse Brokerage accounts and that Evolve would take it over, and that on the evening of May 11 Evolve said it had never agreed to do so and halted all payment processing it was involved in, leaving the brokerage without an ACH processor and making card transactions fail. Evolve told the bankruptcy court on May 13 that it had been denied access to Synapse's computer systems and forced to freeze end-user accounts. According to FINRA, brokerage customers could not withdraw any money from May 11, after the first deposit bank refused to process payments for the brokerage. ^{2 3 4}

analysisSynapse's schedule of May 14, 2024 attributed $111,743,905.77 of the $150.4 million it said Evolve owed depositors to Yotta's end users; Evolve disputes the balances it shows. At the hearing of May 24, 2024 an attorney for Yotta called the ledger discrepancies substantial: according to a press report, Synapse put Yotta funds held at Evolve at $111 million and Evolve put them at $80 million; the figures were later the subject of the banks' reconciliations. Evolve, for its part, told the trustee that a Synapse ledger of April 11, 2024 showed $109 million for Yotta's end users at American Bank, AMG and six program banks and the ledger of May 17 only $1.4 million, with no funds sent to Evolve in between; that is Evolve's reading of Synapse's ledgers. AMG paid $1,289,619 for Yotta's end users by November 12, 2024. ^{1 2 3 4}

analysisAfter Evolve's payouts of November 2024, customers reported receiving small fractions of their balances, such as $0.84 on $10,328, in screenshots seen by the trade press. Yotta, which is in litigation with Evolve, said a survey of more than 8,700 users with deposits of over $46.7 million showed Evolve payments of $7.7 million, a 16.5% ratio, while the Synapse trial balance showed Evolve owing about $158 million, and a Yotta spokesperson said Evolve had acknowledged knowing of the shortfall since at least September 2023 without telling Yotta. Evolve declined to comment further and maintains that the shortfall arose from inaccuracies in Synapse's ledger. It let end users choose a payment method until December 4, 2024, after which it would send checks; the trustee's November 2024 report showed 44% of the FBO funds Evolve held distributed. ^{5 6 4}

analysisCalifornia's DFPI found that from May 2020 Yotta told about 18,000 California customers that their deposits were safe and FDIC insured and that they could not lose their money, and that around October 11, 2023 it migrated savings accounts to Synapse Brokerage, which did not provide FDIC protection, while account holders kept their Evolve routing and account numbers. It did so, the DFPI found, despite serious internal concerns about Synapse: on the day of the migration chief executive Adam Moelis wrote that he did not trust Sankaet Pathak, and management believed that Synapse constantly lied and overpromised. According to the DFPI, after the bankruptcy filing at least 18,155 California consumers with Yotta accounts lost access to at least $28 million, and those who sought FDIC insurance found that it did not cover their losses. Yotta waived its rights to a hearing and to any appeal and stipulated to a consent order dated May 15, 2026, which provides that the findings are deemed admitted only for a future licence application or for enforcing the order; it must desist and refrain from deceptive acts or practices under the California Consumer Financial Protection Law, including representing that cash deposits in Yotta accounts are protected against all risks, and pay a $1,000,000 penalty. ^{1 2}

analysisThe order was signed for Yotta by Moelis on May 8, 2026 and dated by Commissioner Khalil Mohseni. The penalty is payable as $275,000 within 14 days, $19,565.22 a month for 23 months and $275,000 after 24 months; a missed payment would entitle the Commissioner to impose the full $48,000,000 penalty less any amount paid. Yotta also had to send its California customers with positive balances on May 17, 2024 a notice and their May 2024 account information. ²

analysisYotta sued Evolve in federal court in September 2024 alleging fraud and negligence; Evolve argued that it was entitled to the fees it took, and the case was dismissed on February 18, 2026 because Synapse was a necessary party, without a ruling on the merits. Yotta appealed, and the Ninth Circuit's mandate was entered on the district-court docket on October 6, 2026; the appeal's outcome is not visible in the retained docket. In March 2026 Yotta sued Evolve in California state court, alleging, as reported by the trade press, a Ponzi or Ponzi-like scheme and $80 million still owed to its users; no ruling in that case is in the record. The federal court also referred to two cases in the Southern District of New York, one against Yotta and Evolve (No. 24-cv-5535) and one against Yotta (No. 22-cv-8569), whose claims and outcomes are not in the record. ^{1 2 3 4 5}