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New Jersey Man Admits to Running Unlicensed Bitcoin Exchange
The erstwhile operator of “Destination Bitcoin” could face up to five years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine.
By Danny Nelson
Updated Sep 14, 2021, 12:36 p.m. Published Apr 5, 2021, 7:12 p.m.
A New Jersey man pleaded guilty in federal court to running the defunct crypto exchange “Destination Bitcoin” without proper licensure.
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William Green, 53, told a federal judge he illegally converted clients’ cash into crypto between August 2017 and February 2019. He pleaded guilty Monday to running an unlicensed money-transmitting business.
The guilty plea wraps up an Internal Revenue Service (IRS) investigation into Green’s crypto business that began in December 2018 and led to a criminal indictment eight months later. Agents brokered an undercover deal with Green that ultimately led to his arrest.
Read more: New Jersey Man Indicted Over Unlicensed Bitcoin Exchange
Department of Justice officials did not say how much bitcoin Green bought for his clients, nor did they specify how much he made in fees amassed through the endeavor. Federal law requires money-transmitting businesses to acquire the appropriate licenses.
Special agents at the Internal Revenue Service and the Department of Homeland Security led the investigation into Green, officials said. Both agencies utilize transaction-tracing tools that peel back bitcoin’s pseudonymity.
Green is slated for sentencing on Aug. 10.
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What to know:
- As of October 2025, GoPlus has generated $4.7M in total revenue across its product lines. The GoPlus App is the primary revenue driver, contributing $2.5M (approx. 53%), followed by the SafeToken Protocol at $1.7M.
- GoPlus Intelligence's Token Security API averaged 717 million monthly calls year-to-date in 2025 , with a peak of nearly 1 billion calls in February 2025. Total blockchain-level requests, including transaction simulations, averaged an additional 350 million per month.
- Since its January 2025 launch , the $GPS token has registered over $5B in total spot volume and $10B in derivatives volume in 2025. Monthly spot volume peaked in March 2025 at over $1.1B , while derivatives volume peaked the same month at over $4B.
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