On August 22, 2025, Athene Annuity and Life Company, a major U.S. financial services firm managing billions in assets, obtained a $100,000 default judgment against Athene Network for trademark infringement, per court filings in the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona. The lawsuit, filed in May 2024, alleged that Athene Network, a crypto platform, was using the “Athene” mark to confuse investors and mislead them into believing it was affiliated with the legitimate annuity provider. Athene Annuity discovered the issue when investors contacted them about disabled accounts on Athene Network, leading to the infringement claim under the Lanham Act, per. The default judgment was issued after Athene Network failed to respond or appear in court, resulting in a permanent injunction barring further use of the mark.
Athene Network operates as an MLM crypto Ponzi scheme promising up to 30% annual returns through a “staking” model, where investors buy ATH tokens at $0.00001997 (down 99.98% from launch) via the MEXC exchange, per. Initially promoted as an “AI crypto mining” ruse, affiliates “mine” GEM tokens by clicking an app daily, converting to ATH for payouts in USDT, but recruitment drives commissions, per. The scheme, unregistered with regulators, has faced withdrawal restrictions and token value crashes, leaving investors unable to access funds, per. Traffic to athene.network stands at 260,000 monthly visits, primarily from Pakistan (53%) and India (23%), per SimilarWeb, with users reporting blocked chats and frozen assets amid the token’s collapse.
The $100,000 award includes damages for consumer confusion and lost goodwill, with Athene Annuity citing investor inquiries about “disabled accounts” as evidence of harm, per. This default ruling, under 15 U.S.C. § 1114, permanently enjoins Athene Network from using the “Athene” mark, potentially forcing a rebrand or shutdown, per. MEXC, where ATH trades, has faced fraud warnings from regulators in Japan, Ontario, Malaysia, Spain, Hong Kong, Quebec, British Columbia, Austria, UK, and Germany, raising concerns about the token’s legitimacy, per. The broader crypto market, including Bitcoin (BTC) at $113,234, remains stable, but this case highlights risks in unregulated MLM schemes, per CoinMarketCap. X posts from @CryptoLawyerz call it a “victory against Ponzi confusion,” per.
The judgment could lead to asset seizures or further lawsuits against Athene Network’s operators, who remain anonymous, per. Investors should avoid ATH and similar schemes, verifying platforms via sec.gov and reporting fraud to the FTC at reportfraud.ftc.gov. With ATH’s value near zero, victims may pursue class actions, similar to Forsage’s $340M losses, per. Diversify into regulated assets like USDC or ETH ($4,070) with stop-losses below BTC’s $112,000, per TradingView. Follow @TheBlock__ on X for updates. This ruling underscores the SEC’s crackdown on trademark misuse in crypto, potentially deterring similar Ponzis in 2025, per.
