A California federal judge has certified an investor class in a securities lawsuit accusing Nvidia and CEO Jensen Huang of misleading shareholders about how much of the company’s gaming revenue during the 2017–2018 crypto mining boom came from GPU sales to cryptocurrency miners.
US District Judge Haywood S. Gilliam Jr. ruled in a March 25 order that investors who bought Nvidia stock between Aug. 10, 2017, and Nov. 15, 2018, may pursue their claims as a group. The judge emphasized that class certification is procedural and does not resolve whether the company’s statements were fraudulent. The certification focuses heavily on “price impact” — whether the alleged misstatements affected Nvidia’s share price.
Investors allege Nvidia and Huang downplayed how much its surging gaming revenue relied on GPU sales to crypto miners and understated more than $1 billion in crypto-related sales. The complaint says the truth began to emerge after Nvidia’s Aug. 16, 2018 earnings call and guidance cut, when the stock fell about 4.9%, and again after a revenue warning on Nov. 15, 2018, when shares dropped roughly 28.5% over two trading days. Investors first sued in 2018; the current amended complaint was filed in 2020.
In 2022 Nvidia agreed to pay a $5.5 million penalty and accept a cease-and-desist order over inadequate disclosures tied to crypto mining’s impact on its gaming GPU business. The US Supreme Court in December 2024 left in place a Ninth Circuit ruling that allowed the shareholder suit to proceed.
As part of the March 25 ruling, the judge declined to exclude the plaintiffs’ “out-of-pocket” damages model and a statistical “event study” analyzing Nvidia’s stock moves around key disclosure dates. A case conference is scheduled for April 21, 2026, at 2:00 pm Pacific Time, to be held via public Zoom webinar.
A Nvidia spokesperson told Cointelegraph that investors who bought Nvidia in 2017–2018 “have done incredibly well, as our corporate strategy unfolded as we consistently predicted,” and that the company will “address the complaint in court.”