Bitcoin Rodney pleads guilty in $1.8B case

• Rodney Burton, known as "Bitcoin Rodney", pleaded guilty to conspiring to operate an unlicensed money-transmitting business linked to the HyperFund scheme.
• Prosecutors alleged HyperFund was part of a US$1.8 billion cryptocurrency fraud operation that targeted investors globally.
• Burton admitted receiving more than US$7.8 million from the scheme and faces up to five years in prison.

Rodney Burton, known online as "Bitcoin Rodney", pleaded guilty in a Baltimore federal court to conspiring to operate an unlicensed money-transmitting business connected to the HyperFund cryptocurrency scheme.

The case centres on allegations that HyperFund raised approximately US$1.8 billion from investors by promising daily returns of 0.5% to 1% until members doubled or tripled their initial investment.

Burton admitted to providing unlicensed money-transmitting services that promoted HyperFund between June 2020 and January 2022, according to court filings.

Prosecutors alleged HyperFund claimed investor returns were supported by cryptocurrency mining operations that did not exist and that the platform eventually froze customer withdrawals in 2021.

Burton personally received more than US$7.8 million from the operation and faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison, with sentencing scheduled for July 23.

Authorities alleged Burton controlled a network of companies presented as consulting businesses that were used to move investor funds through the scheme.

The case is part of ongoing enforcement efforts targeting cryptocurrency-related fraud and follows the collapse of several digital asset investment platforms that promised unusually high returns to investors.

At the time of reporting, Bitcoin price was $64,541.93.