July 12, 2022: 

Government alleges defendants misled investors about, among other things, a purported proprietary trading “bot” that they claimed could generate guaranteed returns to investors. Defendants "then laundered investors’ funds through a foreign-based cryptocurrency exchange, and paid out early EmpiresX investors with money obtained from later investors in a Ponzi-style scheme." DOJ Link

“This case should serve as a warning to any individuals who look to illegally capitalize on the perceived ambiguity of the crypto market to take advantage of innocent investors” said HSI Miami Special Agent in Charge Anthony Salisbury.

July 21, 2022:

Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and Michael J. Driscoll, the Assistant Director-in-Charge of the New York Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”), announced today the unsealing of an Indictment charging ISHAN WAHI, a formerproduct manager at Coinbase Global, Inc. (“Coinbase”), NIKHIL WAHI, and SAMEER RAMANI, with wire fraud conspiracy and wire fraud in connection with a scheme to commit insider trading in cryptocurrency assets by using confidential Coinbase information about which crypto assets were scheduled to be listed on Coinbase’s exchanges.  ISHAN WAHI and NIKHIL WAHI were arrested this morning in Seattle, Washington and will be presented today in the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington.  SAMEER RAMANI was also charged today and remains at large. DOJ Link

July 27, 2022DOJ Link

A federal jury convicted a New York man today in connection with a scheme to defraud investors by marketing and selling fraudulent virtual currency. 

According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, Randall Crater, 51, of East Hampton, founded My Big Coin Pay Inc. (My Big Coin), a purported cryptocurrency and virtual payment services company headquartered in Las Vegas, Nevada, and offered virtual payment services through a fraudulent digital currency, “My Big Coins,” which he marketed to investors between 2014 and 2017 using misrepresentations about the nature and value of Coins. Crater and his associates falsely claimed that Coins was a fully functioning cryptocurrency backed by $300 million in gold, oil and other valuable assets. Crater also falsely told investors that My Big Coin had a partnership with MasterCard and that Coins could readily be exchanged for government-backed paper currency or other virtual currencies. Crater promulgated these misrepresentations through social media, the internet, email and text messages. 

August 3, 2022:

Bitcoin Fog Case Could Put Cryptocurrency Tracing on Trial. Defendant accused of laundering $336 million, is proclaiming his innocence—and challenging a key investigative tool. DOJ Link

DOJ alleges that Defendant "operated Bitcoin Fog since 2011. Bitcoin Fog was the longest-running cryptocurrency “mixer,” gaining notoriety as a go-to money laundering service for criminals seeking to hide their illicit proceeds from law enforcement." DOJ alleges "Over the course of its decade-long operation, Bitcoin Fog moved over 1.2 million bitcoin – valued at approximately $335 million at the time of the transactions." DOJ further alleges the "bulk of this cryptocurrency came from darknet marketplaces and was tied to illegal narcotics, computer fraud and abuse activities, and identity theft."

August 9, 2022:

“After more than five years of litigation, [Defendant] was extradited to the United States yesterday to be held accountable for operating BTC-e, a criminal cryptocurrency exchange, which laundered more than $4 billion of criminal proceeds,” DOJ alleges Defendant and his co-conspirators ran BTC-e, "a significant cybercrime and online money laundering entity that allowed its users to trade in bitcoin with high levels of anonymity and developed a customer base heavily reliant on criminal activity." DOJ Link

  1. OpenSea Changes “Flagged” NFT Policy 
  2. Alleged Russian Money Launderer Extradited from the Netherlands to U.S. for Prosecution: 
  3. Three Members Of Miami Crew Charged With Defrauding Banks And Cryptocurrency Exchange Of More Than $4 Million 
  4. Nate Chastain’s lawyers have filed a motion to dismiss the government’s indictment charging him with wire fraud and money laundering in connection with the OpenSea “insider trading” case.