Share this article
Bitqyck Founders Plead Guilty to Tax Evasion
Bruce Bise, 60, and Samuel Mendez, 65, face up to five years in federal prison after evading a combined $1.6 million in taxes.
By Eli Tan
Updated May 11, 2023, 7:03 p.m. Published Oct 13, 2021, 6:10 p.m.
Make us preferred on Google
The founders of a crypto startup pleaded guilty to tax evasion in connection with a 2016 initial coin offering (ICO).
Bruce Bise, 60, and Samuel Mendez, 65, face up to five years in federal prison in connection with the Bitqyck ICO, which raised $24 million, the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas said Wednesday.
STORY CONTINUES BELOW
Don't miss another story.Subscribe to the Crypto Daybook Americas Newsletter today. See all newsletters
Bise pleaded guilty on Sept. 9 and Mendez on Oct. 13, according to the department.
The duo allegedly scammed investors out of their funds, using the ICO’s proceeds on casino trips, cars, art, rent and luxury home remodels.
The pair also promised investors who purchased Bitqy tokens they would receive shares of the company’s common stock, though no such issues were ever made. At the time of the pleas, Bise and Mendez own 100% of Bitqyck’s common stock.
Less than a year after Bitqyck’s 2016 ICO, Bise and Mendez began promoting a new coin, BitqyM, that was said to power bitcoin mining operations in Washington state. Bise and Mendez admitted in plea papers that no such operations ever existed, and they had unsuccessfully tried to contract a third-party overseas company to mine the promised bitcoin.
Bitqyck paid an $8.3 million penalty to resolve claims that it defrauded investors in a civil settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in August of 2019.
From 2016 to 2018, Bise and Mendez profited a combined $9.16 million, but after underreporting their incomes, combined with Bitqy failing to file its tax returns in 2018 despite collecting $3.5 million from investors, the founders are on the hook for over $1.6 million in back taxes combined.
Bise and Mendez face up to five years in federal prison, according to the prosecutors.
More For You
KuCoin captured a record share of centralised exchange volume in 2025, with more than $1.25tn traded as its volumes grew faster than the wider crypto market.
What to know:
- KuCoin recorded over $1.25 trillion in total trading volume in 2025, equivalent to an average of roughly $114 billion per month, marking its strongest year on record.
- This performance translated into an all-time high share of centralised exchange volume, as KuCoin’s activity expanded faster than aggregate CEX volumes, which slowed during periods of lower market volatility.
- Spot and derivatives volumes were evenly split, each exceeding $500 billion for the year, signalling broad-based usage rather than reliance on a single product line.
- Altcoins accounted for the majority of trading activity, reinforcing KuCoin’s role as a primary liquidity venue beyond BTC and ETH at a time when majors saw more muted turnover.
- Even as overall crypto volumes softened mid-year, KuCoin maintained elevated baseline activity, indicating structurally higher user engagement rather than short-lived volume spikes.
More For You
R3 bets on Solana to bring institutional yield onchain
As DeFi investors seek stable, uncorrelated returns, R3 is building Solana-native structures to bring private credit and trade finance into crypto markets.
What to know:
- R3 has repositioned itself around tokenization and onchain capital markets, with Solana as its strategic base.
- The firm is targeting high-yield, institutional assets like private credit and trade finance, packaged in DeFi-native structures.
- Liquidity, not tokenization itself, is the next unlock for real-world assets onchain, according to R3 co-founder Todd MacDonald.
Top Stories
