- Hydrogen CEO Michael Caine will serve three years and 9 months in jail.
- Shane Hampton, head of engineering, will serve within the position for 2 years and 11 months.
- Hampton and Kane are accused of manipulating the value of the Hydro token.
Shane Hampton of Philadelphia and Michael Cain of Florida have been convicted of manipulating the value of Hydrogen Expertise Inc.'s proprietary cryptocurrency, HYDRO. The 2 have been accused of orchestrating a scheme to defraud buyers.
In accordance with a press launch from the Division of Justice (DOJ), Hampton was sentenced to 2 years and 11 months in jail, and Kane was sentenced to 3 years and 9 months in jail. DOJ Prison Division Chief Nicole M. Argentieri mentioned the 2 conspired to govern Hydro's worth utilizing buying and selling bots to make a revenue, and issued a warning to different fraudsters.
“This indictment and right this moment's sentence ought to function a warning. The Prison Division won’t hesitate to make use of all accessible instruments, together with the federal securities legal guidelines, to guard the integrity of the digital forex markets.”
The Justice Division mentioned in courtroom paperwork that Hydrogen's co-founder and CEO, Cain, and head of monetary engineering, Hampton, employed a South African firm, Moonwalkers Buying and selling Restricted, to govern Hydrogen's worth. The buying and selling bot was used to “flood the market with pretend and fraudulent orders from October 2018 via April 2019.”
Moreover, two Hydrogen executives used bots to inject $7 million into “wash trades” and $300 million into “spoof trades” to artificially inflate the value of Hydro and lure buyers into shopping for the tokens in hopes of constructing excessive earnings.
The 2, together with their co-conspirators, generated $2 million in earnings over a 10-month interval. Different co-conspirators included Andrew Choulian and Tyler Ostern, who pleaded responsible in Might 2023, and Cain, who pleaded responsible in November 2023. Hampton was sentenced on February 7.
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