Fraud

Chinese exile once linked to Trump strategist gets 30-year sentence in $1 billion fraud
The businessman known as Miles Guo, who pushed the fraudulent H-Coin project and had close ties to Steve Bannon, was finally sentenced after his 2024 conviction.

Ex-Celsius CEO Mashinsky gets U.S. CFTC ban in final resolution with regulator
Alexander Mashinsky, the founder of failed crypto lender Celsius, had earlier been imprisoned for fraud and is now formally banned from CFTC registration.

U.S. House bill would erect crypto-theft task force across law enforcement agencies
New legislation from a bipartisan duo would set up a multi-agency group under the U.S. attorney general to take a lead on cryptocurrency theft cases.

Google engineer busted for insider trading on Polymarket
A Google security engineer was arrested for allegedly using the company's internal search data to place winning bets on Polymarket prediction markets. Michele Spagnuolo transferred $3.8 million in USDC and personally cleared about $1.2 million before attempting to conceal the funds through a privacy mixer. CoinDesk's Jennifer Sanasie hosts "CoinDesk Daily."

Singapore charges former Hodlnaut CEO Zhu Juntao over Terra collapse claims
Zhu allegedly directed staff to publish false claims that Hodlnaut had no direct exposure to the TerraUSD collapse on Telegram and in customer emails.

Kraken's parent company Payward alleges $25 million crypto custody fraud in lawsuit against Etana and firm's CEO
The crypto exchange claims client funds were misused, commingled and concealed in a “Ponzi-like” scheme that unraveled amid a liquidity crisis.

Crypto Long & Short: What the DOJ’s Massive Crypto Seizures Mean for the Industry
In this week’s Crypto Long & Short Newsletter, Jared Lenow’s insights on the DOJ’s increased focus on crypto seizures and what it means for the broader industry – the good, the bad and the ugly. Then, we dive into a year end vibe check with two observations, two predictions and reader favorite quotes from 2025 by Andy Baehr.

European Crypto Scam Network Dismantled After Laundering $815M
Authorities across Europe took down a massive crypto fraud and laundering network tied to fake investment platforms, deepfake ads and call-center operations.

Appeals Court Seems Unmoved by Sam Bankman-Fried’s Claims of an Unfair Trial
The former FTX CEO, who is currently serving a 25-year sentence for fraud, has repeatedly claimed that the crypto exchange was solvent at the time of its bankruptcy.

Cleaning Up Crypto ATMs Isn’t Anti-Crypto
The louder these companies protest regulation, the clearer it becomes that something’s off, argue Paradigm’s Katie Biber and Dominique Little.

