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Rodney Burton, also known as “Rodney Bitcoin,” a key figure in the promotion of HyperVerse crypto, has been apprehended for his involvement in a complex cryptocurrency investment scheme, as per court documents.
Burton faces charges of operating and conspiring to operate an unlicensed money-transmitting business, with his case awaiting transfer to Maryland following his arrest in Florida. His alleged involvement in promoting the unregulated investment company HyperFund, a facet of the crypto ponzi scheme run by Ryan Xu and Sam Lee, has come to light through investigations.
It has been revealed that both Xu and Lee, who served as directors of the bitcoin mining company Blockchain Global, left behind a $58 million debt to creditors after the Australian-based organization collapsed.
The true identity of Blockchain Global’s CEO, Steven Reece Lewis, has come into question, as an investigation by the Guardian revealed discrepancies in his claimed academic background and a lack of online presence outside of his association with HyperFund.
Furthermore, an affidavit by the IRS has indicated that HyperFund’s scheme involved users paying a daily fee to become “members” in exchange for passive income allegedly derived from large-scale crypto mining operations, which were later discovered to be fraudulent.
HyperVerse’s fraudulent activities, which reportedly led to approximately $1.3 billion in customer losses, caught the attention of various countries, but Australian regulators have yet to take formal action against the company, causing dissatisfaction within the crypto community.
With Burton’s arrest being the first in connection to the international HyperVerse scheme, the fate of Xu and Lee, the masterminds behind the alleged crypto ponzi scheme, remains uncertain. This development has raised concerns about accountability in the crypto industry.
