in the USA cryptocurrency There are many lawsuits against the industry. While new cases are being added, decisions continue to be made in existing cases.
According to this, The US Department of Justice (DOJ) said in a statement that two former executives of Hydrogen Technology were sentenced to prison for manipulating the price of the company’s cryptocurrency, HYDRO, and defrauding investors.
In the DOJ statement, Hydrogen co-founder and former CEO Michael Kane was sentenced to 3 years and 9 months in prison; He stated that the company’s senior manager, Shane Hampton, was sentenced to 2 years and 11 months in prison.
Citing court documents, the DOJ alleges that Hydrogen executives Kane and Hampton were involved in a cryptocurrency exchange in the United States. hydro Moonwalkers Trading Ltd in South Africa to manipulate the price of its tokens. He said that he hired an external firm called and made over $7 million in fake trades in Hydro tokens through bots.
“Between October 2018 and April 2019, Kane, Hampton and their collaborators executed approximately $7 million in “fake trades” for HYDRO via bots.
These manipulative trades were designed and executed to fraudulently induce retail investors to purchase HYDRO.
“Kane, Hampton and their collaborators made a profit of approximately $2 million selling HYDRO over approximately 10 months through artificially inflated prices resulting from their manipulation efforts.”
Deputy Attorney General Nicole M. Argentieri, head of the Criminal Division of the Ministry of Justice, said in a statement: “Shane Hampton, Michael Kane, and their collaborators defrauded investors by using a trading bot to manipulate the price of Hydro.
Hampton v. Kane was the first criminal jury trial to find that a cryptocurrency is a security and that manipulating cryptocurrency prices is securities fraud.” said.
In September 2022, the SEC accused Hydrogen and its managers, Hampton and Kane, of market manipulation through Hydro from 2018 to 2019.
*This is not investment advice.
Source: Bitcoinsistemi.com