Sam Lee
Australian co-founder of HyperFund/HyperVerse. Indicted by the U.S. DOJ in January 2024 over a scheme the DOJ valued at $1.89B and the SEC at over $1.7B.
Also known as: Xue Lee
Bio
Sam Lee (Xue Lee), an Australian citizen residing in the UAE, was named as co-founder of HyperFund (also HyperVerse/HyperNation), a crypto "membership" scheme promising daily passive rewards from non-existent mining. [1][2]
Status
Lee was indicted in January 2024 on a charge of conspiracy to commit securities fraud and wire fraud; the DOJ valued the scheme at $1.89 billion and the SEC at more than $1.7 billion. Promoter Brenda Chunga pleaded guilty. These are allegations against Lee; he is 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.
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.
