Maksim Zaslavskiy
The Brooklyn entrepreneur behind the RECoin and Diamond Reserve Club ICOs. His was the first criminal case to test whether ICO tokens are securities; he pleaded guilty to securities-fraud conspiracy and was sentenced in 2019 to 18 months in prison.
Also known as: Maksim Zaslavskiy
Bio
Maksim Zaslavskiy marketed RECoin as "The First Ever Cryptocurrency Backed by Real Estate" and the Diamond Reserve Club (DRC) token as backed by diamonds. Prosecutors said neither asset existed — he bought no real estate or diamonds, and the certificates sent to investors were worthless. He raised at least $300,000 from over 1,000 investors. [1][2]
Legal outcome
Zaslavskiy's prosecution was the first criminal case to consider whether ICO tokens are "securities" under U.S. law; the court allowed it to proceed. He pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit securities fraud in November 2018 and, on November 18, 2019, was sentenced to 18 months in prison plus three years of supervised release. [1][2]
Bracketed numbers refer to the numbered sources listed below.
Sources (2)
- Maksim Zaslavskiy gets 18-month prison sentence over ICO fraud — FinanceFeeds (DOJ release summary)
- United States v. Zaslavskiy (docket) — CourtListener
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.
HEX / PulseChain (Richard Heart)ProjectsCrypto projects (HEX, PulseChain, PulseX) created by Richard Heart (Richard Schueler). In July 2023 the U.S. SEC sued him for offering unregistered securities that raised $1B+ and for allegedly misappropriating ~$12M for luxury goods (including a 555-carat diamond). A court dismissed the case in 2024 for lack of U.S. jurisdiction; there was no finding of wrongdoing and Heart denies the allegations.
This page was last updated on Jun 15, 2026. View revision history.
