Sergei Potapenko
Estonian co-founder of HashFlare, a cloud-mining service the DOJ called a $577M Ponzi scheme. He pleaded guilty to wire-fraud conspiracy in 2025 and was sentenced to time served (16 months), forfeiting hundreds of millions for victims.
Also known as: Sergei Potapenko
Bio
Sergei Potapenko co-founded the cloud-mining service HashFlare with Ivan Turõgin. Between 2015 and 2019 HashFlare sold mining contracts totaling more than $577 million but, the DOJ said, lacked the computing capacity to perform most of the mining it claimed; its dashboard showed falsified profits while the founders spent proceeds on real estate and luxury vehicles. [1][2]
Legal outcome
Potapenko was arrested in 2022 and pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud in February 2025. In August 2025 he was sentenced to 16 months (time served) plus supervised release, a $25,000 fine, and community service, having agreed with Turõgin to forfeit assets worth hundreds of millions for victim compensation. [1][2]
Bracketed numbers refer to the numbered sources listed below.
Linked scams & cases
Sources (2)
- Two Estonian Nationals Plead Guilty in $577M Cryptocurrency Fraud Scheme — U.S. DOJ
- Estonian nationals sentenced in WA for $577M Ponzi scheme — The Spokesman-Review
See also
- Blockchain Terminal (BCT)TokensA 2017–2018 ICO (BCT tokens, ~$30M) for a 'Blockchain Terminal' — a Bloomberg-style crypto trading terminal. The SEC and DOJ said convicted ex-hedge-funder Boaz Manor secretly ran it under a fake identity ('Shaun MacDonald'), using associate Edith Pardo as a front, and lied about the product's adoption.
- Profit ConnectProjectsA Las Vegas company that the SEC said was a $12M+ Ponzi scheme: it told 277+ investors their money would be invested in securities and crypto via an 'artificial intelligence supercomputer' guaranteeing 20–30% annual returns. The SEC halted it in 2021; over 90% of funds came from investors.
- Dropil (DROP)Tokens
This page was last updated on Jun 8, 2026. View revision history.