According to ChainCatcher news, reported by The Block, a 57-year-old man from Pennsylvania, Dwayne Golden, has been sentenced to 97 months (approximately 8 years) in prison for his involvement in operating fraudulent cryptocurrency companies EmpowerCoin, ECoinPlus, and Jet-Coin, and has been ordered to forfeit approximately $2.46 million in illegal proceeds.Dwayne Golden and his accomplices defrauded investors of $40 million through a "Ponzi scheme" and subsequently obstructed federal investigations. Dwayne Golden was first charged with fraud, money laundering, and other financial crimes in March 2022.

ChainCatcher news, according to the Daily Telegraph, a Russian woman who claims to be a cryptocurrency expert was sentenced to 7 years in prison by a Moscow court for orchestrating and executing a Ponzi scheme that defrauded investors of $23 million (2.2 billion rubles) in Bitcoin over a period of 60 days in 2023.The woman, named Valeria Fedyakina, is from Simferopol. She impersonated a legitimate cryptocurrency trader with offices worldwide under the alias "Bitmama," promising clients that she could transfer funds overseas using cryptocurrency to circumvent Western sanctions.

ChainCatcher news, according to Lianhe Zaobao, a 34-year-old man, Xie Jiajie, knowingly assisted his boss Liu Hanquan in managing a team and operating a currency exchange business without a license, handling over 43 transactions totaling more than 35 million yuan in just 23 days. The man was arrested during a police raid and sentenced to 10 months in prison. The defendant Xie Jiajie faced two charges of violating the Payment Services Act and one charge of violating the Corruption, Drug Trafficking and Serious Crimes (Confiscation of Benefits) Act. He previously admitted to one of the charges, while the remaining charges will be considered by the judge when sentencing on June 26.It is understood that Sir Money Changer (SMC) is a licensed family business that provides currency exchange and cross-border remittance services, with directors being the Mohamad couple. In June 2021, SMC opened a new outlet in Geylang, and Liu Hanquan proposed to pay 14,000 yuan per month to use the license for independent remittance operations. He hired employees himself but paid contributions under SMC's name, later reimbursing the related costs. Starting in September of the same year, Liu Hanquan began operations that included cross-border remittance and Tether transactions, but did not report to the Monetary Authority and did not submit transaction records. The mastermind Liu Hanquan fled to Cambodia after the incident and emptied his cryptocurrency wallet; he is still at large.

ChainCatcher news, according to the report from the official account of the Danzhou People's Procuratorate, a certain criminal gang used "contract cryptocurrency trading" as a bait to attract investments in virtual currencies with promises of high returns, illegally absorbing public deposits totaling over 10 million yuan, a huge amount. The Danzhou People's Procuratorate has filed a public prosecution for the crime of illegally absorbing public deposits.After examination, the Danzhou People's Procuratorate determined that the actions of this criminal gang violated the Criminal Procedure Law of the People's Republic of China, constituting a joint crime of illegally absorbing public deposits, and they were sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment and fined.

ChainCatcher news, according to The Block, the auction of items belonging to Ross Ulbricht, the founder of the dark web marketplace "Silk Road," has raised approximately 1.8 million dollars in Bitcoin. The auction items include paintings created by Ulbricht while in prison, personal belongings, and his prison ID. Among them, the prison ID was sold for the highest bid of 11 BTC (approximately 1.1 million dollars). Ulbricht stated that this auction is to open a new chapter in his life.

ChainCatcher news, according to CoinDesk, Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht delivered a keynote speech at the Bitcoin 2025 conference held in Las Vegas. This is his first public speech since being pardoned by President Trump and released from prison in January this year.Ulbricht emphasized the importance of the three principles of freedom, decentralization, and unity. He stated that the support from the crypto community has enabled him to regain his freedom and expressed his astonishment at the technological advancements he has encountered over the past four months, including innovations such as decentralized finance (DeFi), Web3, and artificial intelligence. He urged the crypto community to remain united and adhere to the principles of decentralization to ensure future freedom.

ChainCatcher news, according to Cointelegraph, a man in the United States has been sentenced to six years in prison for operating a so-called "no questions asked" cash-to-Bitcoin service and ordered to forfeit millions of dollars.On May 22, U.S. District Judge Richard Stearns announced that Trung Nguyen from Danvers, Massachusetts, was sentenced to six years in prison, followed by three years of supervised release, and ordered to forfeit $1.5 million in assets.Prosecutors stated that Nguyen operated an unlicensed money transfer business called National Vending from September 2017 to October 2020, using various methods learned from an online course to evade regulation. Nguyen learned how to conceal his true business from banks, cryptocurrency exchanges, and state regulators, such as disguising as a vending machine company that accepted cash deposits, fabricating a fictitious list of suppliers, and avoiding the use of the term "Bitcoin" whenever possible.

ChainCatcher news, according to Cointelegraph, a New York jury found former SafeMoon CEO Braden Karony guilty of conspiracy to commit fraud, money laundering, and telecommunications fraud, all felonies, with the jury reaching a verdict in just one day after a two-week trial. Karony is accused of misappropriating funds for personal use, facing a maximum sentence of 45 years. His co-defendant Smith has turned state’s witness, while Nagy is suspected of fleeing to Russia.Previous news, the former SafeMoon CEO insists on his innocence and blames the founders.

ChainCatcher news, according to official reports, a typical case recently released by the Haidian Court reveals that a user manager of a certain network technology company took advantage of his position to accept bribes and embezzle virtual currency in a virtual currency reward business, with a total amount involved of 9.74 million yuan.The user manager was sentenced to 12 years in prison by the court for the crime of accepting bribes as a non-state worker and for embezzlement. The case shows that from 2014 to 2019, the defendant obtained 6.08 million yuan in bribes by introducing supplier cooperation and profited 3.66 million yuan by cashing out part of the virtual currency through multiple accounts. This case is the longest prison sentence for corruption crimes committed by internal personnel of internet companies in the past five years.

ChainCatcher news, recently, the Haidian Court, in conjunction with the China Internet Association, released the "White Paper on Corruption Crimes by Internal Personnel of Internet Enterprises" and published typical cases.In one case, a user manager of a certain network technology company introduced a supplier to cooperate on virtual currency business, accepted bribes, and embezzled virtual currency for cashing out. Ultimately, the court sentenced him to nine years in prison for bribery and six years for embezzlement, deciding to execute a total of twelve years in prison.

According to ChainCatcher news, a 26-year-old Alabama resident, Eric Council Jr., was sentenced to 14 months in prison for participating in the hacking of the official Twitter account of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and posting false news about the approval of a Bitcoin ETF. He gained control of the SEC account through a SIM swap attack, causing significant fluctuations in Bitcoin prices.According to court documents, Council obtained a SIM card associated with the SEC's phone number at an AT&T store in Alabama on January 9, 2024, using forged identification. He then purchased a new phone to receive the SEC X account password reset. His accomplices used that access to post false news about the approval of a Bitcoin ETF, resulting in a surge of over $1,000 in Bitcoin prices within a short period, followed by a drop of more than $2,000 after the SEC clarified the situation.In addition to imprisonment, the court also ordered the forfeiture of his illegal gains of $50,000 and imposed three years of supervised release, during which he is prohibited from using the dark web and committing identity fraud. Investigations revealed that Council was also involved in multiple SIM swap attacks, profiting approximately $50,000 from them.This case was jointly investigated by the FBI's Washington office and the SEC's Office of Inspector General, highlighting the regulatory agencies' efforts to combat the manipulation of financial markets through cybercrime. The head of the Department of Justice's Criminal Division emphasized the commitment to holding accountable those who threaten the integrity of the digital asset market.

ChainCatcher news, according to Cointelegraph, the U.S. government has requested a federal judge to sentence Eric Council Jr. to two years in prison. Eric Council Jr. is the person who helped disseminate false information, which was announced through the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)'s X account regarding the approval of a Bitcoin spot ETF.In documents submitted to the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on May 12, prosecutors recommended that the judge sentence Council to two years in prison for posting false information on the social media platform X, claiming that the SEC had approved a spot Bitcoin ETF for the first time in January 2024. This false statement shook the market approximately 24 hours before the SEC actually approved the spot Bitcoin ETF, ultimately leading to Council's arrest.

ChainCatcher news, according to Inner City Press, former CEO of the cryptocurrency lending platform Celsius, Alex Mashinsky, has been sentenced to 12 years in prison for cryptocurrency-related fraud. The judge has ordered him to surrender by September 12 at the latest.Mashinsky (59) had previously pleaded guilty to two charges of commodity fraud and a fraudulent scheme to manipulate the price of the company's native token (CEL). Prosecutors stated that he "orchestrated one of the largest frauds in the crypto industry" and had suggested a 20-year prison sentence.

ChainCatcher news, according to the official website of the U.S. Department of Justice, a man from Springfield, Virginia, Mohammed Azharuddin Chhipa, has been sentenced to 364 months (approximately 30 years) in prison for funding the terrorist organization ISIS through cryptocurrency.According to court records and trial evidence, from October 2019 to October 2022, Chhipa raised funds via social media, converted the proceeds into cryptocurrency, and transferred them to Turkey, ultimately flowing to ISIS members in Syria to fund their prison escapes and support terrorist activities. During this period, he provided over $185,000 in cryptocurrency to ISIS.

ChainCatcher news, according to Cointelegraph, Celsius founder Alex Mashinsky expressed strong dissatisfaction with the U.S. Department of Justice's proposed 20-year prison sentence. Previously, Mashinsky pleaded guilty in December 2024 to commodity fraud and manipulating the price of CEL tokens, profiting $48 million by selling tokens before the collapse of Celsius. His legal team submitted a response memorandum to the New York District Court on May 5, requesting to reduce the sentence to less than 366 days, arguing that Mashinsky is a first-time non-violent offender with a 30-year unblemished business record. Celsius filed for bankruptcy protection in July 2022, with liabilities of $4.7 billion, affecting the assets of hundreds of thousands of users.

ChainCatcher news, according to Decrypt, Binance founder Changpeng Zhao admitted in an interview with Rug Radio that his four-month imprisonment in the U.S. was "extremely difficult" and "terrifying," and he stated that he "would not wish that experience on anyone." However, this experience also made him realize the importance of health and family.He recalled that when he first entered prison, facing tattooed, loud, and large inmates, he felt a strong sense of unease and fear. His cellmate had been sentenced to 30 years for double murder, but the two got along relatively well. Due to his non-U.S. citizen status, he was unable to enter a minimum-security prison and was sent to a low-security facility.Despite being the founder of Binance and having a billion-dollar fortune, his fellow inmates did not treat him differently. Zhao stated that many of his fellow inmates were very friendly, and he still keeps in touch with several of them.For him, the hardest part was the mental pressure—worrying that his sentence might be suddenly extended. He pointed out that many friends in prison faced similar fates.This experience led him to reevaluate life, stating, "Health is the most important, followed by family, then work and other things." Zhao also revealed that he will publish a new book detailing his experiences during his imprisonment.

ChainCatcher news, according to CoinDesk, Alex Mashinsky, the founder and former CEO of the now-defunct cryptocurrency lending platform Celsius Network, faces the possibility of spending the next 20 years in prison—if the sentencing recommendation submitted by the U.S. Department of Justice is adopted by the court. The sentencing is set for May 8.In the recommendation submitted late Monday, the Department of Justice urged the court to impose a 20-year prison sentence, stating that Mashinsky's crimes were "deliberate and meticulously planned" fraudulent acts that resulted in nearly $7 billion in customer losses, leaving thousands of people financially devastated.