A group of five defendants participated in a worldwide ponzi scheme, the BitClub Network, which defrauded cryptocurrency investors. The BitClub Network required membership fees, “solicited money from investors in exchange for shares of pooled investments in cryptocurrency mining,” and “rewarded existing investors for recruiting new investors.” The funds provided by investors were purportedly required to sustain the cryptocurrency mining pools by, for example, purchasing equipment and computing power. The profits made by investors supposedly depended on the success of the mining pool operations and the number of shares investors had in the mining pools. To lure investors, keep existing investors, and get investors to provide money, the defendants fraudulently represented earnings. The group fraudulently “obtained at least [USD]… 722 million from investors.” The BCN shares sold were not registered as “securities” with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission as required by law. Two of the five defendants pled guilty: Joseph Frank Abel pled guilty to “conspiracy to offer and sell unregistered securities” and Silviu Catalin Balaci to “conspiracy to commit wire fraud and to offer and sell unregistered securities.” At the time of writing, the remaining three defendants (Matthew Brent Goettsche, Russ Albert Medlin, Jobadiah Sinclair Weeks) have not yet been tried.