A federal judge in California has certified an investor class in a securities lawsuit targeting Nvidia and its chief executive, Jensen Huang, over claims that the company misled shareholders about the true source of its gaming revenue during the cryptocurrency mining boom of 2017 and 2018. US District Judge Haywood S. Gilliam Jr. issued the ruling on March 25, allowing investors to pursue their claims collectively. The judge emphasized that class certification is a procedural step and does not determine whether Nvidia’s statements were actually fraudulent.
The certified class covers investors who purchased Nvidia stock between August 10, 2017, and November 15, 2018. A central focus of the ruling is the concept of “price impact” — specifically, whether the alleged misstatements had a measurable effect on Nvidia’s share price during that period. The judge also declined to exclude the plaintiffs’ damages model and a statistical event study analyzing stock price movements around key disclosure dates.
Shareholders allege that Nvidia and Huang concealed how heavily the company’s surging gaming revenue depended on GPU sales to cryptocurrency miners rather than traditional gamers. According to the complaint, the full picture began to surface after Nvidia’s earnings call on August 16, 2018, when the stock fell approximately 4.9%. A further revenue warning on November 15, 2018, triggered an additional decline of roughly 28.5% over two trading days.
Investors first filed suit against Nvidia in 2018, with an amended complaint submitted in 2020. That complaint alleges the company downplayed its reliance on crypto-related GPU sales and understated more than $1 billion in revenue tied to cryptocurrency mining activity. The case has a lengthy legal history, including a US Supreme Court decision in December 2024 that left in place a Ninth Circuit ruling permitting the shareholder lawsuit to move forward.
Nvidia’s regulatory history adds context to the litigation. In 2022, the company agreed to pay a $5.5 million penalty and accept a cease-and-desist order related to inadequate disclosures about crypto mining’s contribution to its gaming GPU business. That settlement with regulators did not resolve the separate civil shareholder claims now proceeding through the courts.
An Nvidia spokesperson told Cointelegraph that investors who bought shares during the 2017–2018 period “have done incredibly well, as our corporate strategy unfolded as we consistently predicted.” The spokesperson added that the company intends to “address the complaint in court,” signaling that Nvidia plans to contest the allegations rather than seek an early settlement.
The court has scheduled a case conference for April 21, 2026, at 2:00 pm Pacific Time, to be conducted via a public Zoom webinar. The proceeding will mark a significant next step as both sides prepare for what is expected to be a closely watched trial over corporate disclosure standards during a period of rapid growth in cryptocurrency markets.
Originally reported by CoinTelegraph.
