Miami promoter Rodney Burton pleaded guilty to conspiracy for operating an unlicensed money transmitting business linked to the $1.8 billion HyperFund fraud. He faces a maximum of five years in prison.

ZachXBT said a major investigation will begin on February 26 into a highly profitable crypto business where employees allegedly benefited from insider leaks. WLFI, USD1 and Binance are now at the center of speculation.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York said two Chinese nationals, Chen Zhuoying, also known as Jolene, 27, of Brooklyn, and Zhang Haojie, also known as Kevin, 38, of Queens, were arraigned in federal court in Brooklyn on July 16 on money laundering conspiracy charges. Prosecutors allege the pair ran a laundering network of more than 10 people in Queens and Brooklyn from 2020 to 2022. The operation allegedly used about 45 shell companies and 140 business bank accounts to move at least $43 million in proceeds from pig butchering investment scams into accounts in China. Authorities said the scams approached victims through social media or messaging apps, built trust with false promises of high-return investments, and then took the funds. The case was investigated jointly by Homeland Security Investigations, the FBI, IRS Criminal Investigation, and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service. If convicted, each defendant faces up to 20 years in prison.

A U.S. federal grand jury has indicted the founder of digital asset fund Benaiah, accusing the individual of defrauding investors of about $20 million through an alleged Ponzi scheme. According to prosecutors, the founder raised roughly $25.1 million through Benaiah entities starting in 2018. Of that total, about $12 million was allegedly paid back to investors as fabricated returns, while another $5.7 million was diverted for personal use. Prosecutors also allege the founder used forged documents and another person’s identity to obtain $1 million in bank credit. The founder pleaded not guilty at an arraignment on July 10, has since been released on bond, and is scheduled to stand trial on Sept. 15. The case was investigated jointly by IRS Criminal Investigation and the FBI, according to the report cited by Techub from Crypto Briefing.

U.S. prosecutors said a federal grand jury has charged Sioux Falls, South Dakota, crypto investor Benjamin Paul Wiener with 29 criminal counts tied to an alleged $20 million fraud scheme. The charges include wire fraud, money laundering, bank fraud, and aggravated identity theft. According to the indictment, Wiener, 43, is accused of using false statements to persuade dozens of investors in South Dakota and Minnesota to send money and digital assets to several companies he controlled. Prosecutors allege that after obtaining the funds, Wiener moved assets through banks and cryptocurrency exchanges to conceal their source, ownership, and control, while using part of the money for personal expenses. They also say he kept recruiting new investors when cash ran short or when earlier investors sought redemptions, and used later funds to repay earlier ones, an operating pattern they describe as consistent with a Ponzi scheme. The indictment says the conduct involved eight companies, including several LLCs. Wiener is also accused of forging documents and communication records in April 2025 and using another person’s identifying information to obtain a $1 million line of credit from a financial institution in Sioux Falls. He appeared in court on July 10, pleaded not guilty to all charges, and was released on bond. Trial is scheduled for Sept. 15. The case is being investigated jointly by the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation division and the FBI.

Odaily reported, citing a market update from Jin10, that a U.S. judge has ruled invalid a settlement agreement reached between Donald Trump and the Internal Revenue Service. The brief item did not provide additional details on the court decision, the terms of the agreement, or any next procedural steps. No further timeline, legal reasoning, or response from the parties was included in the source text.

The Bitcoin Policy Institute successfully held a briefing on the De Minimis Bitcoin tax exemption, with Coinbase presenting data showing the proposal could eliminate millions of unnecessary IRS filings, simplifying tax obligations for Bitcoin transactions.

Kraken has filed 56 million crypto tax forms with the IRS for 2025. About one-third involve transactions below $1, while 74% cover amounts under $50, underscoring how retail-sized activity continues to dominate a large share of exchange records.