U.S. Federal Prosecutor Appeals to Increase Sentence of HashFlare Mining Fraud Case Mastermind

By: theblockbeats.news|2025/08/27 20:22:19

BlockBeats News, August 27th, according to Decrypt report, U.S. federal prosecutors have appealed to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals to seek an increase in the "time served" sentence for Estonian citizens Sergei Potapenko and Ivan Turõgin in the $577 million HashFlare cryptocurrency Ponzi scheme case, with the federal prosecutors calling it "unusually lenient."

The two had previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy, defrauding 440,000 global victims between 2015 and 2019 through false mining contracts, presenting a fictitious "dashboard" of returns, and using the funds for luxury goods and to pay early withdrawers. Previously, the judge sentenced the two to three years of supervised release and a $25,000 fine each, rejecting the prosecutor's request for a 10-year prison term citing concerns over the treatment of foreign defendants in the U.S., including a possible "indefinite detention." Legal experts say the judge's reasoning based on "time served, immigration risk, and restitution concerns" is sufficient, and the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals generally respects the trial judge's discretion, making a upheld ruling likely, but the lenient sentence could weaken the deterrence of economic crimes. The case has seized $400 million for victim compensation and is referred to as the "largest fraud case in the Western District of Washington."

-- Price

The various iterations of Uniswap are one of the sources of vitality in the DeFi market, but since 2023, Uniswap has not proposed any substantial innovations, instead adhering to traditional business explorations in application chains, Launchpads, etc., leading to a slump in token prices and market ...

What is the key to competition in crypto banking?

Digital banks, crypto cards, wallets, super apps, and DeFi protocols are all converging towards the same goal: to become the primary gateway for your savings, spending, earning, and transferring in the new era.

The flow of stablecoins and the spillover effects in the foreign exchange market

Research has found that an exogenous increase in net inflows of stablecoins significantly widens the price deviation between stablecoins and traditional foreign exchange, leads to depreciation of the local currency, and worsens the financing conditions for synthetic dollars (i.e., increases the doll...

After two years, Hong Kong's first batch of stablecoin licenses finally issued: HSBC, Standard Chartered make the cut

The regulated entity is set to launch a stablecoin in the first half of this year.

The person who helped TAO rise by 90% has now single-handedly crashed the price again today

As long as people are around, the story continues. But once they're gone, you may not even find a worthy opponent to play against.

3-Minute Guide to Participating in the SpaceX IPO on Bitget

Bitget IPO Prime brings a rare opportunity for global users to participate in world-class unicorn IPOs, allowing ordinary users to equally access the potential economic benefits of top-tier IPOs.

Top 5 Cryptos to Buy in 2026 Q1: A ChatGPT Deep Dive Analysis

Explore the top 5 cryptos to buy in Q1 2026 including BTC, ETH, SOL, TAO, and ONDO. See price outlooks, key narratives, and institutional catalysts shaping the next market move.

How to Earn $15,000 with Idle USDT Before Altcoin Season 2026

Wondering if altcoin season is coming in 2026? Get the latest market update, and learn how to turn your idle stablecoins waiting for entry into extra rewards up to 15,000 USDT.

Can You Win Joker Returns Without Large Trading Volume? 5 Mistakes New Players Make In WEEX Joker Returns Season 2

Can small traders win WEEX Joker Returns 2026 without huge volume? Yes—if you avoid these 5 costly mistakes. Learn how to maximize card draws, use Jokers wisely, and turn small deposits into 15,000 USDT rewards.

Altcoin Season 2026: 4 Stages to Profit (Before the Crowd FOMO In)

Altcoin Season 2026 is starting — discover the 4 key stages of capital rotation (from ETH to PEPE) and how to position before the peak. Learn which tokens will lead each phase and avoid missing the rally.

Will Alt season come in 2026? 5 Tips to Spot the Next 100x Crypto Opportunities

Will altcoin season arrive in 2026? Discover 5 rotation stages, early signals smart traders watch, and the key crypto sectors where the next 100x altcoin opportunities may emerge.

The bear market has arrived, and cryptocurrency ETF issuers are also getting involved

Today's listing of MSBT is the latest landmark in this restructuring, with the influx of institutions accelerating the embrace of cryptocurrencies by traditional finance, but also diluting the liquidity of the native market.

The richest man had a quarrel with his former boss

It has become a huge uproar, as several top figures in the Chinese cryptocurrency circle have engaged in intense verbal battles and confrontations in the past 24 hours.

BTC Firm Above 70K! Saylor’s "Institutional Logic" vs. Moon’s "Retail Faith": Who is Really Harvesting the Market?

Bitcoin is holding firm above the $70,000 support level following a massive short squeeze that liquidated $427 million. As the "Four-Year Cycle" narrative shifts, the market is split: Michael Saylor’s cold, institutional "indiscriminate stacking" vs. Carl Moon’s high-energy retail "hopium." This article decodes these two polar-opposite strategies for the 2026 bull run and reveals how WEEX’s institutional-grade liquidity and AI trading tools empower every type of investor to convert market volatility into profit.

The Girl Who Created the SBTI Test: A Story of a Doomed Cyber Love, an E-Widow Ratfolk

The usefulness of the useless is the highest usefulness.

B.AI Officially Launched: Building AI Agent Financial Bedrock Platform, Driving AGI Era Business Underlying Logic

B.AI has built a complete ecosystem from the AI Service Gateway to the AI Agent Financial Base: The LLM permissionless gateway integrates top global models and a unified API in one stop; The AI Agent infrastructure, through protocols such as x402 and 8004, empowers the AI Agent with an independent wallet and autonomous transactions.

B.AI Officially Launched: Breaking Down A2A Collaboration Barriers to Unlock the Smart Body Economy's Full Potential

With its Multi-Model Intelligent Routing breaking the compute bottleneck on one hand, and the integration of x402, 8004, Skills, and BAIClaw on the other hand, B.AI has seamlessly connected the full-stack business loop of AI Agents from large-scale intelligent scheduling to financial operational capability, accelerating the arrival of the AGI era.

We helped Xu Mingxing write a book called "<OK Life>".

That was a small-town youth who had lost three times, lost 2 million yuan selling a Beijing apartment, always felt like he was about to be spit out by Beijing, and on the screen, encountered something that was said to be unclaimable by anyone.