What Happened to Yotta? Where the Synapse Payout Stands

Yotta was a savings app that gave you tickets for prize drawings when you saved. In May 2024, its customers lost access to their money after Synapse, the company that kept Yotta’s records, went bankrupt. The partner banks have paid back part of it. For the rest, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has set aside $55.2 million, but as of October 2, 2026, it hasn’t opened claims or set a payout date.

We’ll update this page as soon as the CFPB opens claims or names a date.

What happened to Yotta?

Yotta wasn’t a bank. It used Synapse, a tech company, to keep track of who owned what, while partner banks held the money. Synapse filed for bankruptcy on April 22, 2024. Its records didn’t match the banks’ records, and from May 11, 2024, Yotta’s customers couldn’t get to their savings.

For every $25 in your account, Yotta gave you a ticket a day for its prize drawings, and it advertised a chance to win up to $10 million every week. In October 2023, it moved its customers’ accounts from Evolve Bank & Trust to Synapse Brokerage, a Synapse company that placed the money at several partner banks. When Synapse collapsed, the banks were holding less money than Synapse’s records said customers were owed. The CFPB puts that gap (opens in a new tab) at $60 million to $90 million, across all the apps that used Synapse.

How much did Yotta’s savers lose?

Yotta’s CEO told CNBC (opens in a new tab) in June 2024 that 85,000 customers with about $112 million in deposits had lost access. The partner banks then paid back the money they could trace, and for many Yotta savers that was a small share. By November 2024, 13,725 Yotta customers said (opens in a new tab) they’d been offered $11.8 million of the $64.9 million they had deposited.

Yotta’s website now offers sweepstakes games, not savings accounts.

Where does the Synapse payout stand now?

As of October 2, 2026, the CFPB has set aside $55,214,058 for people who lost money through Synapse. It hasn’t opened a claims process, set a payout date or said how it will divide the money.

The money comes from the CFPB’s Civil Penalty Fund (opens in a new tab), which holds the penalties the agency collects. The CFPB can use it to pay people who aren’t expected to get their money back in full from the company that harmed them, but only in a case that ended with a penalty. So it sued Synapse and settled for $1 (opens in a new tab), which the bankruptcy court approved on September 12, 2025. The CFPB then set aside $46,248,291 on November 28, 2025, and added $8,965,767 on May 29, 2026. Together, that’s less than the $60 million to $90 million gap.

Banking Dive reported (opens in a new tab) in September 2026, citing Fintech Business Weekly, that the CFPB has hired Rust Consulting to handle the claims and payments, on a contract that could run until August 16, 2028. The CFPB didn’t respond when Banking Dive asked about timing.

Nothing will come from Synapse’s own bankruptcy. Its trustee, former FDIC chair Jelena McWilliams, asked the court to end the case because the company had no money to repay creditors and no buyer, and the court dismissed it (opens in a new tab) on November 12, 2025.

The Yotta and Synapse timeline so far

Who can get money from the CFPB fund?

If you had money in a Yotta account on May 17, 2024, you may be eligible, and so may customers of Juno and the other apps that used Synapse. Under the court order (opens in a new tab), your loss is your balance that day minus what Evolve Bank & Trust, AMG National Trust Bank or Lineage Bank paid back, plus interest for the time you waited.

Yotta’s notice to California customers (opens in a new tab), which the state required it to send, says customers with a positive balance on May 17, 2024, “may be eligible to seek compensation by filing a claim with the CFPB.” That points to a claim you’ll file yourself, though the CFPB hasn’t said how it will work.

What can you do while you wait?

There’s nothing to file yet, because the claims process hasn’t opened. What you can do now is keep your records, watch for the CFPB’s announcement and avoid paying anyone who offers to get you the CFPB payment.

• Keep your records. Hold on to your May 2024 statement and any record of payments from Evolve, AMG or Lineage, whether they came by check, PayPal or bank transfer. Those are the two numbers the court order uses.
• If you’re in California, Yotta had to send you your May 2024 statement by mail and email under the state’s order. If it never arrived, the notice gave support@withyotta.com as the contact.
• Check the CFPB’s Synapse page (opens in a new tab) and its payments by case (opens in a new tab) list. Yotta’s notice points customers to the first for news of the claims process, and the CFPB lists payouts in progress on the second.
• Don’t pay anyone for the CFPB payment. The CFPB says it will “never require you to pay money to receive money.” (opens in a new tab) Report anyone who asks to the FTC at reportfraud.ftc.gov (opens in a new tab). These recovery scams target people who have just lost money.

Are any lawsuits or fines paying customers?

Only a few small claims cases so far. Yotta’s own lawsuit against Evolve Bank & Trust was dismissed in federal court, and Yotta is appealing while it sues again in state court. California fined Yotta in May 2026, but that money goes to the state.

Yotta’s case against Evolve

Yotta sued Evolve (opens in a new tab) in federal court in September 2024, accusing the bank of taking or mismanaging its customers’ money. Evolve has called the claims meritless (opens in a new tab). A federal judge dismissed the case on February 18, 2026, ruling that it couldn’t go ahead in federal court without Synapse as a party. In March 2026, Yotta appealed to the Ninth Circuit and sued Evolve again (opens in a new tab) in California state court.

Customers’ own cases

Customers have filed proposed class actions (opens in a new tab) against Evolve and the other partner banks, starting in federal court in Colorado in November 2024. Some have also taken Evolve to small claims court, with mixed results. Banking Dive reported (opens in a new tab) that a customer who sued in Alameda County, California, in July 2024 was repaid by the end of that year, and that a Yotta customer who won by default when Evolve didn’t show up was paid $4,735.57 in May 2026. At least two other people lost their cases.

California’s $1 million fine

On May 15, 2026, California’s Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (DFPI) fined Yotta $1 million (opens in a new tab). In the consent order (opens in a new tab) Yotta agreed to, the DFPI found that Yotta told customers their money was FDIC insured and that they “can’t lose” it, then moved their accounts to Synapse Brokerage, which didn’t have that protection. At least 18,155 Californians lost access to at least $28 million. Yotta pays the $1 million to the state in installments over two years, and none of it goes to customers.

Can you still get prizes for saving in the US?

Yes, through a credit union or bank in a state that allows prize-linked savings. Programs like Save to Win are savings accounts you open directly at the credit union or bank, so no other company sits between you and your money. Our guide to prize-linked savings in the US lists the programs open today and the states that allow them.

We make Lodavo, a prize-linked savings app where your savings stay in your own bank account.

This page is general information, not legal advice. The CFPB and the courts decide who gets paid and how much.