US Court Sentences Cryptocurrency Hedge Fund Founder to 7.5 Years in Prison

The founder of two cryptocurrency hedge funds in New York, Stefan Qin, has been sentenced to 7.5 years in prison and three years of supervised release. He is also ordered to forfeit about $55 million. The Department of Justice (DOJ) said that he “engaged in a scheme to steal assets” from his hedge funds and … Read more

4th Amendment Does Not Protect Bitcoin Data, US Fifth Circuit Court Rules

A Fifth Circuit panel of judges recently ruled that Fourth Amendment rights do not apply to cryptocurrency transaction data that stems from an exchange. The U.S. court ruled against the defendant, Richard Gratkowski, who attempted to leverage the Fourth Amendment in an appeal. According to the ruling of a three-judge panel from the Fifth Circuit … Read more

US Federal Court Fines Bitcoin Ponzi Schemer Over $2.5 Million

A U.S. federal court has fined a New York firm and its chief executive officer over $2.5 million in the first anti-fraud action involving bitcoin filed by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. The Ponzi scheme involved a fake pooled investment strategy and a “fake computer ‘hack’ that supposedly caused the loss of nearly all customer funds,” … Read more