The Crypto Scam That Landed Two Executives in Prison

• Hydrogen CEO Michael Kane will serve 3 years and 9 months behind bars.
• Head of Engineering Shane Hampton will serve for 2 years and 11 months.
• Hampton and Kane have been accused of manipulating the HYDRO token’s price.

Philadelphia residents Shane Hampton and Florida-based Michael Kane have been sentenced for manipulating the price of Hydrogen Technology’s native cryptocurrency, HYDRO. The two were accused of orchestrating a scheme to defraud investors.

As per a Department of Justice (DOJ) press release, Hampton received a sentence of 2 years and 11 months in prison, while Kane received 3 years and 9 months. Nicole M. Argentieri, head of the DOJ’s Criminal Division, noted that the two colluded and used a trading bot to manipulate HYDRO’s price for their benefit, warning other fraudsters:

“This prosecution and the sentences imposed today should serve as a warning:  The Criminal Division will not hesitate to use all tools at its disposal—including the federal securities laws—to protect the integrity of cryptocurrency markets.”

The DOJ stated that, according to court documents, Kane, the co-founder and chief executive of Hydrogen, and Hampton, the Head of Financial Engineering, hired Moonwalkers Trading Limited, a South African firm, to manipulate HYDRO’s price. The trading bot was used to “flood the market with fake and fraudulent orders from October 2018 to April 2019.”

Furthermore, the two Hydrogen executives used the bot to place $7 million in “wash trades” and $300 million in “spoof trades” to artificially inflate HYDRO’s price, enticing investors to purchase the token in hopes of high returns.

The two men, along with their co-conspirators, generated $2 million in profits over ten months.The other co-conspirators included Andrew Chorlian and Tyler Ostern, who pleaded guilty in May 2023, while Kane pleaded guilty in November 2023. Hampton was convicted on February 7.

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