MoneyFund.com was registered in 1996 by a guy named Charles Kokesh, making it one of the 100,000 oldest domains on the internet. Today, more than 350 million domains are registered and that number continues to grow.
Kokesh was later charged by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for misappropriating $34.9 million of investor funds.
Charles owned four venture capital companies named First Capital Growth Fund, Inc., Technology Funding, Inc., MoneyFund Inc., and Technology Funding Partners IV, LP.
These VC/BDCs were intended to finance various tech startup ventures, providing capital to businesses that may not have had access to traditional financing.
Between 1995 and 2009, the New Mexico man (and father of libertarian podcaster Adam Kokesh) engaged in fraudulent activities by diverting funds from these companies. The money was used to cover personal expenditures and support his lavish lifestyle.
The misappropriation was concealed through false financial statements and reports submitted to investors and the SEC.
Kokesh was found guilty on all counts and ordered to pay $35 million in disgorgement, $18 million in prejudgement interest, and 2.5 million in penalties totaling $55 million USD.
Mark Cuban was involved in the Kokesh case as an amicus curiae, supporting Kokesh’s appeal to the Supreme Court.
Some years later, Kokesh sold the domain to Shane on April 22nd 2024. That summer, $Money was born from the crypto twitter trenches and immortalized on the blockchain by Cody Askew + an army of landwolf degenerates.