Bitcoin Rodney Faces Expanded $1.8B HyperFund Charges in Landmark Crypto Crackdown
A high-profile crypto figure just got deeper into hot water—regulators are piling on the pressure in one of the industry's biggest alleged scams.
The $1.8 Billion Question
Forget moonshots and lambos—this case is about old-fashioned fraud on a blockchain scale. Authorities allege a massive scheme, wrapped in crypto buzzwords, siphoned billions from hopeful investors. The expanded charges suggest the net is widening, and the hammer is coming down hard.
Cleaning House or Chilling Innovation?
Every crackdown sends a tremor through the crypto world. Legitimate builders grit their teeth, knowing bad actors give the whole space a black eye. It's the eternal finance dance: where there's real money, fraudsters will follow—whether it's paper stock certificates or digital tokens. Sometimes the 'disruption' is just a Ponzi scheme with a slick website.
The takeaway? The wild west days are fading. As regulators sharpen their tools, the industry's biggest test isn't just technology—it's proving it can police its own backyard before the suits do it for them.
Expanded federal indictment hits Bitcoin Rodney with 11 charges
If convicted on all counts, Burton faces a maximum of 20 years in prison in federal courts for the wire fraud conspiracy and each wire fraud count, plus 10 years for each money laundering count and five years for the unlicensed money transmission offense.
The charges represent a significant escalation from Burton’s original criminal complaint, filed in January 2024, which consisted of two counts linked to unlicensed money transmission, each carrying a maximum sentence of five years to be served.
Burton was arrested in January 2024 at Miami International Airport carrying a one-way ticket to the United Arab Emirates, and has been detained since a federal judge refused his bail request because he constituted an “extreme flight risk.”
$1.8B HyperFund scheme allegedly funded luxury lifestyle, not mining
From June 2020 to May 2024, Burton and his co-conspirators managed HyperFund, which prosecutors claimed was a legitimate cryptocurrency investment platform known as HyperVerse, according to court documents.
The scheme purportedly offered investors daily returns of 0.5% to 1%, intending to nearly double or triple their initial investments, claiming that investments could be made in vast crypto mining operations.
It was a facade, prosecutors say, those mining operations didn’t operate. A superseding indictment alleges that Burton spent proceeds from investors on luxury condominiums, sports cars, and a yacht. Burton’s trial is set for March of next year.
Burton maintained an enormous profile in the crypto community, hosting a 2021 Miami event featuring Shark Tank’s Daymond John and singer Akon, and made regular appearances on social media alongside notable figures like Jamie Foxx and Rick Ross. According to court documents, there has been one prior conviction for conspiracy to distribute cocaine.
He told court papers that he considered this a bona fide business. Co-founder and Australian entrepreneur Xue Lee, or Sam Lee, he said, constructed an “elaborate deception” to deceive both his investors and Burton himself.
Lee and promoter Brenda “Bitcoin Beautee” Chunga were charged with fraud and unregistered security offerings by the SEC in January 2024. Earlier reports indicate that Chunga has agreed to plead guilty, while Lee is still at large.
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