Austin Michael Taylor
Founder of the Miami crypto project CluCoin (alias 'DNPthree'). A military veteran, he pleaded guilty to wire fraud after siphoning ~$1.14M of investor funds into online casinos, and was sentenced in 2025 to 27 months in prison.
Also known as: DNPthree, DPN3
Bio
Austin Michael Taylor (known online as "DNPthree"/"DPN3") founded the Miami-based crypto project CluCoin (CLU). While managing CluCoin and making representations to investors, he secretly diverted about $1.14 million of investor funds into online casinos amid a gambling addiction, then confessed publicly in January 2023. [1][2]
Legal outcome
Taylor pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud in August 2024 and, on February 14, 2025, was sentenced to 27 months in prison plus three years of supervised release, a $10,000 fine, and $1.14 million in restitution. [1][2]
Bracketed numbers refer to the numbered sources listed below.
Linked scams & cases
Sources (2)
See also
Luke BelmarIndividualsCryptocurrency influencer Luke Belmar (@lukebelmar on X) became the subject of controversy following allegations related to the promotion of a memecoin. Critics on social media alleged that Belmar used a series of posts referencing a forthcoming cryptocurrency project and a large-scale airdrop to generate interest in a token without explicitly identifying a specific contract address. Belmar published multiple posts discussing an upcoming memecoin, describing plans for what he characterized as a major airdrop and making comparisons to other cryptocurrency projects. Because no contract address was publicly provided, several tokens emerged claiming association with his statements. Critics alleged that this ambiguity enabled speculation around multiple tokens while avoiding a direct endorsement of any particular asset.
Evolved Apes (NFT)ProjectsAn NFT collection launched on OpenSea in September 2021 that promised a fighting game. About a week later its anonymous developer 'Evil Ape' vanished with 798 ETH (~$2.7M). In June 2024 U.S. prosecutors charged three U.K. nationals over the scheme.
This page was last updated on Jun 15, 2026. View revision history.