Поділитися цією статтею
Hydrogen Technology Execs Jailed for HYDRO Price Manipulation
CEO Michael Kane and Shane Hampton, head of financial engineering, were sentenced to a total of more than six years in prison.
- Hydrogen Technology executives Michael Kane and Shane Hampton were jailed for fraud and securities manipulation.
- For the first time, a jury in a federal criminal trial found that a cryptocurrency was a security and that manipulating cryptocurrency prices was securities fraud, the U.S. DOJ said.
Two Hydrogen Technology executives were sentenced to jail for defrauding investors by manipulating the price of the HYDRO token, the U.S. Department of Justice said on Tuesday.
CEO Michael Kane, 39, was sentenced to three years and nine months and 32-year-old Shane Hampton, the company's head of financial engineering, was sentenced to two years and 11 months, according to DOJ statement.
STORY CONTINUES BELOW
Не пропустіть жодної історії.Підпишіться на розсилку State of Crypto вже сьогодні. Переглянути всі розсилки
The two enlisted a South African company called Moonwalkers Trading to manipulate the HYDRO price on an unidentified U.S.-based crypto exchange using a bot to place some $7 million of so-called wash trades and $300 million worth of spoof trades between October 2018 and April 2019, the DOJ said. The actions enabled them to make $2 million in profits from selling HYDRO at inflated prices.
Kane, from Miami Beach, pleaded guilty in November 2023 to wire fraud and committing securities price manipulation. Hampton, from Philadelphia, was convicted on Feb. 7 of conspiracy to commit securities price manipulation and wire fraud.
"In this case, for the first time, a jury in a federal criminal trial found that a cryptocurrency was a security and that manipulating cryptocurrency prices was securities fraud," Nicole M. Argentieri, head of the Justice Department's Criminal Division, said in the press release
Last year, Hydrogen Technology was fined just under $2.8 million and Kane $260,206 by the U.S. District Court of the Southern District of New York for violating securities law in a case brought by the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Two other co-conspirators, Andrew Chorlian and Tyler Ostern, pleaded guilty in May 2023 to securities price manipulation and wire fraud charges and have already been sentenced, the press release said.
Більше для вас
Що варто знати:
- 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.
Більше для вас
CFTC Launches Digital Assets Pilot Allowing Bitcoin, Ether and USDC as Collateral
Acting Chair Caroline Pham has unveiled a first-of-its-kind U.S. program to permit tokenized collateral in derivatives markets, citing "clear guardrails" for firms.
Що варто знати:
- The CFTC has launched a pilot program allowing BTC, ETH and USDC to be used as collateral in U.S. derivatives markets.
- The program is aimed at approved futures commission merchants and includes strict custody, reporting and oversight requirements.
- The agency also issued updated guidance for tokenized assets and withdrew outdated restrictions following the GENIUS Act.
Top Stories
