The co-founders of HashFlare, Sergei Potapenko and Ivan Turogin, pleaded guilty to wire fraud. They agreed to forfeit their interests in frozen assets in a plea deal.

They were involved in a Ponzi scheme that defrauded users of over 550 million USD, raising 25 million USD for a promised non-existent digital bank, Polybius.

Arrested in 2022 and extradited to the US in 2024, Potapenko and Turogin face sentencing hearings where they could receive up to 20 years in prison.