Matthew Goettsche
Named by the U.S. DOJ as a primary organizer of BitClub Network, a Bitcoin 'mining pool' scheme that took at least $722M. Charged with wire-fraud and unregistered-securities conspiracies.
Bio
Matthew Brent Goettsche was named by the U.S. DOJ as a primary organizer of BitClub Network, which solicited money for shares in purported Bitcoin "mining pools" and rewarded recruitment. The DOJ says the scheme took at least $722 million. [1][2]
Status
Goettsche was charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and to sell unregistered securities. These are allegations; defendants are presumed innocent unless and until convicted. [1][2]
Bracketed numbers refer to the numbered sources listed below.
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.