Connect with us

Crypto

US charges 18 people, companies with cryptocurrency fraud

Published

on

US charges 18 people, companies with cryptocurrency fraud

By Nate Raymond

BOSTON (Reuters) -Four cryptocurrency companies and 14 individuals have been charged in what U.S. prosecutors on Wednesday called the first criminal prosecution of financial services firms for market manipulation and sham trading in the crypto sector.

Federal prosecutors in Boston charged the firms Gotbit, ZM Quant, CLS Global and MyTrade and their leaders and employees in a case that also involved charges of people overseas. Five people have agreed to plead guilty or have already done so.

Prosecutors accused the defendants of engaging in the crypto equivalent of stock market “pump and dump” schemes that involved sham trades to artificially inflate the trading volume of various cryptocurrency tokens before selling them off.

Prosecutors said the largest of the companies involved in the various schemes, Saitama, at one point came to have a market value of $7.5 billion, after its leadership began manipulating the market for its tokens and secretly selling them.

Advertisement

Its chief executive, Manpreet Kohli, was arrested on Monday in the United Kingdom. Five other current or former employees were also charged, and three have pleaded guilty.

Others charged were Aleksei Andiunin, the chief executive of Gotbit, a cryptocurrency “market maker” who lived in Russia and Portugal. He was charged along with two of his company’s employees in Russia and could not be reached for comment.

Prosecutors said that from 2018 to 2024, Gotbit engaged in a form of market manipulation called “wash trading” on behalf of several cryptocurrency clients, earning tens of millions of dollars at the expense of investors. In wash trading, a financial asset is bought and sold for the express purpose of misleading the market.

Prosecutors cited a 2019 interview Andiunin gave in a YouTube view in which he detailed how his business had developed a code to artificially inflate trading volume for tokens for the purposes of getting them listed on crypto exchanges.

Advertisement

Three other individuals residing overseas who worked at cryptocurrency “market makers” that prosecutors said advertised market manipulation services to clients were also charged.

They are Liue Zhou, the Chinese founder of MyTrade, who according to court papers has agreed to plead guilty; Baijun Ou of Hong Kong, who worked at ZM Quant, and Andrey Zhorzhes of the United Arab Emirates, an employee of CLS Global.

They could not be immediately reached for comment.

Others charged were Michael Thompson of Virginia, who worked at a cryptocurrency company called VVZZN founded by a former Saitama employee, and Bradley Beatty of Florida, who prosecutors said fraudulently promoted his crypto company, Lillian Finance.

(Reporting by Nate Raymond in Boston; Editing by Leslie Adler and David Gregorio)

Advertisement

Crypto

Best Crypto Recovery Law Firms in 2026: Leading Cryptocurrency Lawyers for Asset Recovery, Fraud Investigations and Digital Asset Disputes

Published

on

Best Crypto Recovery Law Firms in 2026: Leading Cryptocurrency Lawyers for Asset Recovery, Fraud Investigations and Digital Asset Disputes

Introduction

Cryptocurrency fraud has become one of the fastest-growing forms of financial crime worldwide. Investment scams, fake trading platforms, wallet compromises, pig-butchering schemes, recovery scams, phishing attacks, and hacking incidents continue to affect thousands of investors and businesses every year.

As digital assets have become increasingly mainstream, the demand for specialist cryptocurrency lawyers has grown significantly. Unlike traditional financial disputes, crypto-related matters often involve blockchain analysis, digital evidence, international jurisdictions, cryptocurrency exchanges, compliance considerations, and highly technical investigations.

The best crypto recovery law firms combine legal expertise with a deep understanding of blockchain technology, financial crime, digital asset tracing, and cryptocurrency investigations. Some specialise in assisting individual victims, whilst others focus primarily on institutions, exchanges, funds, and large-scale commercial disputes.

Advertisement

This guide highlights five law firms that have established reputations within cryptocurrency recovery, digital asset investigations, blockchain disputes, fraud prevention, and financial crime matters.

1. Crypto Legal

Website: https://www.cryptolegal.uk

Why We Selected Crypto Legal as Our Top Choice

Crypto Legal stands out because it combines specialist cryptocurrency lawyers, blockchain forensic investigators, intelligence analysts, compliance professionals, and digital asset experts within a single organisation.

Advertisement

Unlike many traditional law firms that outsource technical investigations to third parties, Crypto Legal performs blockchain investigations and forensic analysis internally. This allows legal and forensic teams to work together throughout a matter, providing clients with both legal expertise and technical blockchain intelligence.

Established in 2017, Crypto Legal has operated as a crypto-native legal and forensic practice since the early stages of the digital asset industry. The firm specialises in cryptocurrency fraud investigations, blockchain forensics, digital asset tracing, AML compliance, financial crime prevention, Web3 advisory services, and cryptocurrency-related disputes.

The firm has accumulated more than 70 industry awards and recognitions and has been recognised by organisations including the European Legal Awards, Legal Insider, Leaders in Law, and the Digital Economy Council of Australia.

Particularly impressive is Crypto Legal’s multidisciplinary structure, which combines legal professionals, blockchain investigators, forensic analysts, intelligence specialists, compliance experts, and cryptocurrency professionals under a single framework.

Key Areas of Focus:

Advertisement
  • Cryptocurrency fraud investigations
  • Blockchain forensics
  • Digital asset tracing
  • Asset recovery support
  • Financial crime investigations
  • AML compliance
  • Exchange disputes
  • Cryptocurrency scam investigations
  • Web3 legal services

2. LegalByte

Website: https://www.legalbyte.io

LegalByte has developed a strong reputation for cryptocurrency fraud investigations, cybercrime matters, blockchain tracing, hacking incidents, wallet compromise investigations, and investment scam cases.

The firm focuses heavily on matters involving stolen cryptocurrency, fraudulent investment platforms, phishing attacks, exchange disputes, recovery scams, and digital asset tracing exercises.

LegalByte’s experience in both legal and forensic aspects of cryptocurrency investigations makes it particularly suitable for individuals and businesses seeking specialist assistance following hacking incidents or suspected fraud.

Key Areas of Focus:

  • Cryptocurrency theft investigations
  • Blockchain tracing
  • Hacking incidents
  • Investment fraud
  • Recovery scam investigations
  • Cybercrime matters
  • Wallet compromise cases
  • Financial crime investigations

3. Mishcon de Reya

Website: https://www.mishcon.com

For very large and complex cryptocurrency disputes, Mishcon de Reya is one of the most recognised names in the market.

Advertisement

The firm has been involved in several high-profile digital asset and fraud-related matters and possesses substantial experience handling sophisticated commercial disputes involving digital assets, fraud, asset preservation, injunctions, and cross-border litigation.

However, the firm primarily serves corporations, financial institutions, funds, high-net-worth individuals, and large commercial clients. For smaller retail recovery matters, specialist crypto-native firms may often be more suitable.

Where a matter involves significant sums, multiple jurisdictions, extensive litigation, or complex fraud structures, Mishcon de Reya remains a notable option.

Key Areas of Focus:

  • Commercial fraud
  • Digital asset disputes
  • Asset preservation
  • Cross-border disputes
  • High-value litigation
  • Financial crime matters

4. Andersen

Website: https://www.andersen.com

Many cryptocurrency investors are unaware that losses arising from hacks, scams, thefts, or fraudulent investment schemes may have tax implications depending on their jurisdiction and circumstances.

Advertisement

Andersen is one of the world’s leading tax advisory firms and has developed substantial expertise in cryptocurrency taxation, digital asset compliance, tax reporting, and crypto-related tax planning.

Whilst Andersen is not a cryptocurrency recovery firm, its expertise can be highly valuable following a loss event. Investors should understand whether losses may be reportable or potentially deductible under applicable tax frameworks.

For this reason alone, Andersen deserves consideration within any discussion relating to cryptocurrency recovery planning.

Key Areas of Focus:

  • Cryptocurrency taxation
  • Digital asset tax planning
  • Tax compliance
  • International tax matters
  • Crypto reporting obligations
  • Tax treatment of digital asset losses

5. CMS

Website: https://www.cms.law

CMS is one of the largest international law firms operating within the blockchain and digital asset sector.

Advertisement

Unlike specialist crypto recovery firms, CMS focuses more heavily on regulatory advisory work, financial services, fintech, digital asset compliance, commercial matters, and institutional legal services.

Although the firm is not primarily known for cryptocurrency recovery or blockchain investigations, its extensive international presence and expertise in financial regulation make it a valuable option for businesses, exchanges, fintech companies, and institutional participants operating within the digital asset sector.

Its inclusion highlights the importance of regulatory compliance and legal risk management in preventing cryptocurrency disputes before they arise.

Key Areas of Focus:

  • Financial regulation
  • Fintech advisory
  • Digital asset compliance
  • Commercial law
  • Blockchain projects
  • International legal services

Final Thoughts

Cryptocurrency recovery often requires far more than legal advice alone. Successful outcomes frequently depend upon a combination of blockchain forensics, digital asset tracing, intelligence gathering, fraud analysis, regulatory expertise, and legal strategy.

Advertisement

For individuals and businesses seeking specialist assistance with cryptocurrency fraud, scams, asset tracing, hacking incidents, or blockchain investigations, firms that combine legal and forensic capabilities generally offer the most comprehensive approach.

Among the firms reviewed, Crypto Legal stands out for its unique integration of legal services and in-house blockchain forensic expertise, whilst LegalByte remains a strong specialist option for hacking incidents, fraud investigations, and cryptocurrency-related cybercrime matters.

Disclosure: This content is provided by Crypto Legal. Insider Monkey’s editorial team doesn’t review the content provided by third party contributors for accuracy.

Continue Reading

Crypto

El Salvador Adds to Bitcoin Reserve Again as Daily Buys Push Stack Past 7,680 BTC

Published

on

El Salvador Adds to Bitcoin Reserve Again as Daily Buys Push Stack Past 7,680 BTC

Key Takeaways

Buying the Dip, Every Day

El Salvador has once again added to its Strategic Bitcoin Reserve, summing up its strategy in four words, i.e. “Buying the dip, every day.” The latest buy continues a routine that has become a defining feature of President Nayib Bukele’s economic policy.

Image source: X

The country’s reserve now stands at 7,687 BTC, valued at more than $510 million, according to recent counts. Bitcoin.com News reported that El Salvador has been treating market weakness as an invitation to add to the national stack, scooping up coins even as bitcoin slid close to $66,000.

Between January and April alone, authorities added more than 1,600 coins, consistent with a long-running policy of acquiring close to one bitcoin per day regardless of short-term volatility.

That steady, mechanical approach, often described as dollar-cost averaging at the national level, has allowed the country to keep growing its holdings without trying to time the market. Each purchase is small, but the cumulative effect has pushed El Salvador into the ranks of the largest sovereign bitcoin holders.

Advertisement

The IMF Standoff Explained

The buying persists despite friction with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) because under a $1.4 billion financing agreement, the IMF has urged El Salvador’s public sector to halt bitcoin accumulation, and the fund has repeatedly questioned how the country reconciles its purchases with the deal’s terms.

Last year, El Salvador passed an IMF review even as it continued to expand its holdings, leaving observers puzzled over how both can be true at once.

Bukele has shown no sign of backing down as he has long insisted the country will not sell, framing its conviction with the mantra that 1 BTC = 1 BTC regardless of the U.S. dollar’s price. The government’s position is that the reserve is a long-term bet on bitcoin’s appreciation, not a trading position to be unwound during downturns.

The IMF, for its part, has argued that some of El Salvador’s reported accumulation amounts to shuffling existing coins rather than net new purchases, a characterization the government disputes. The opacity around exactly how and when coins are added has made the precise reserve figure difficult to pin down, even as the trend line points steadily upward.

A Long-Term Bet

El Salvador became the first country to adopt bitcoin as legal tender in 2021, and although it later adjusted that status under IMF pressure, Bukele has kept the reserve growing. The strategy has drawn both criticism and imitation, with other governments and corporations studying the model of steady, programmatic accumulation.

Advertisement

The approach has also reshaped how the country talks about its finances, given officials now report bitcoin alongside traditional reserves, and Bukele frequently uses unrealized gains on the stack as a talking point during market upswings. Either way, the reserve has become a central part of the nation’s economic identity.

Looking ahead, it will be interesting to see whether the IMF tolerates El Salvador’s trajectory or escalates its objections, thereby helping determine how far Bukele can push his bitcoin experiment.

Continue Reading

Crypto

Crypto’s Courtside Takeover: Digital Assets in Pro Tennis

Published

on

Crypto’s Courtside Takeover: Digital Assets in Pro Tennis

Courtside advertising suddenly looks quite different. The traditional mainstays like Rolex and BMW and luxury car brands are still out there on the digital hoardings, of course. But they are increasingly sharing space with various cryptocurrency platforms and blockchain networks. It’s an interesting visual contrast for a sport that has historically been very particular about its aesthetic, pointing to a broader shift in who is funding global sports entertainment.

This presence goes much deeper than simple baseline signage. Running a modern tennis tournament requires substantial capital and organizers have found a willing partner in the tech sector. 

These blockchain firms have moved quickly from the margins of the internet straight onto the umpire chairs. While seeing digital asset companies backing a sport famous for its strict traditions can feel unexpected, it simply demonstrates how quickly these platforms have integrated into mainstream commerce.

A New Opportunity for Career Longevity

Then you have the players. A few years ago, a top-tier pro would retire and immediately sign a deal to commentate or sell luxury SUVs. Now, newer athletes are signing deals to take portions of their prize money in digital tokens. It makes sense if you look at it from their perspective. 

An active career in tennis is notoriously short – one bad knee injury during a slippery slide on clay can end a livelihood – and diversifying into volatile digital assets feels like a calculated risk when you already live a high-stakes lifestyle. They pitch these platforms to fans who are stuck sitting in traffic on their morning commute, dreaming of hitting a clean backhand down the line.

Advertisement

Evolution of Fan Interaction

Naturally, marketing teams had to find a way to drag the average fan into this ecosystem. Enter the era of fan tokens and experimental NFT drops… for a minute or two. Every major tournament seemed convinced that fans wanted a digital JPEG of a tennis ball that granted them the right to vote on the pre-match warm-up music, rather than cheaper stadium food or cleaner bathrooms. 

Most of these experimental projects eventually settled into a quiet, heavily discounted corner of the internet, but the underlying infrastructure remained intact. People got used to the terminology, downloaded the apps, and stopped viewing digital wallets as a niche hobby for the tech bros of the major cities around the world.

A Broader Shift

This entire courtside takeover did not happen in an isolated sporting vacuum. Audiences became comfortable with digital transactions through casual everyday utility, not by reading dense technical whitepapers. Whether someone bought a digital skin in an online video game, tried to time a speculative market swing, or spent an evening exploring how people use alternative assets at crypto casinos to avoid traditional banking delays, the familiarity grew organically.

When people are already utilizing alternative currencies to fund their hobbies or pass the time online, seeing those same financial logos plastered across the net at a Masters 1000 event stops looking strange. It blends into regular, mundane reality.

We probably will not see the sport abandon its traditional roots entirely. Wimbledon will keep its strawberries and cream, and players will still bow to the royal box. But the digital asset money has settled into the clay. It pays for the prize pots, it funds the lower-tier challenger circuits that struggle to survive, and it keeps the digital scoreboards running. The bright tech logos are now as much a part of professional tennis as bad line calls and broken rackets.

Advertisement
Continue Reading
Advertisement

Trending