Another 12 people have been charged for their involvement in a $263 million crypto crime spree that stole 4,100 Bitcoin from a Genesis creditor last August, along with a string of break-ins and money laundering. 

The 12 new names, included in a superseding indictment, add to charges originally brought against the main defendant in the case, Malone Lam, on Sept. 19, 2024, the Department of Justice noted in a May 15 statement.

Jeandiel Serrano was named a defendant in the initial indictment but was not included in the superseding one.

The DOJ said several defendants have been arrested, while two others are believed to be living in Dubai.

Many of the suspects, with aliases like “Goth Ferrrari” and “The Accountant,” come from California, mostly aged between 18 and 22. 

The group allegedly began operating in October 2023, evolving from friends while playing online games to what the DOJ describes as participating in a “cyber-enabled racketeering conspiracy.”

Hacking, burglarizing and laundering

The DOJ said group members were tasked with everything from hacking databases, cold calling crypto holders to conduct social engineering attacks to even burglarizing houses to steal crypto hardware wallets.

Others were involved in laundering the stolen proceeds, which the DOJ claimed amounted to $263 million. 

Over $230 million resulted from a single instance on Aug. 18, 2024, when Lam fraudulently obtained over 4,100 Bitcoin (BTC) from a victim.

Related: Crypto exchange CEO’s daughter fights off brazen kidnappers in Paris

The DOJ said Lam also hacked into another victim’s iCloud account to watch their movements, while defendant Marlon Ferro would break into their house to steal crypto hardware wallets.

Virtual private networks, crypto mixer protocols and exchanges using “peel chains” were used to make it harder to trace the illicit activity, the DOJ said. A peel chain is a money laundering tactic where crypto is transferred through a series of wallets, with small amounts of funds “peeled off” at each step.

They have been charged with RICO (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations) as well as offenses involving wire fraud and money laundering.

Gone in 60 seconds

Members of the crypto theft ring allegedly used proceeds to pay for nightclub services — costing up to $500,000 on some nights — 28 exotic cars as expensive as $3.8 million, in addition to luxury handbags, watches, and clothing.

Homes and jets were even rented out with fake identity documents to fund their lavish lifestyles, the DOJ noted.

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Jason Guthrie, head of product at asset manager WisdomTree, says he’s optimistic despite a noticeable lack of hype that typically comes along with a crypto bull run. 

There hasn’t been a “really frothy use case that has typically driven these market cycles previously,” such as initial coin offerings (ICOs), non-fungible tokens (NFTs), or DeFi lending, Guthrie told Cointelegraph at Consensus.

“This time, we’ve continued to see the asset class gathering value, we’ve continued to see the companies that are built on this technology, growing revenue, growing client bases, continuing to innovate without really hanging their hat on one of these frankly less than useful use cases,” he said.

WisdomTree founder Jonathan Steinberg (left), Jason Guthrie, head of product (middle) and head of digital assets Will Peck (right). Source: Jason Guthrie

The ICO boom kicked off in 2017 with an estimated $4.9 billion raised. By 2018, this figure had jumped to $33.4 billion. By 2019, it had dropped to just over $370 million and has never returned to its previous highs.

NFTs also had their day, and saw a massive surge of popularity in 2020 and continued to grow until hitting a peak in 2022, with trading volumes reaching $57.2 billion and the market’s sales count hitting 121.7 million. The market has since cooled as well. 

“I think the fact that we’re still healthy without one of those to drive it is a really, really good sign,” Guthrie said.

Market more mature this cycle, despite memecoin hype 

The overall crypto market capitalization hit a new all-time high of $3.71 trillion on Dec. 9 last year, with many cryptocurrencies also registering significant price gains, according to CoinMarketCap. 

During this cycle, there has also been a growing trend of companies, such as video game retailer GameStop Corporation, and countries, Ukraine possibly being one of the latest, adopting crypto for treasuries and reserves.

“I think this is starting to feel like a more mature market that is really settling on its use case, its value prop,” Guthrie said.

“I know there has been a bit of memecoin stuff, particularly around Solana, but it doesn’t seem anywhere near as prevalent as the previous kind of hype has been,” he added. 

Related: Bitcoin experiencing ‘shakeout,’ not end of 4-year cycle: Analysts

There was a surge in memecoin activity after the launch of US President Donald Trump’s memecoin on Jan. 18, when Pump.fun usage recorded an all-time high of $3.3 billion in weekly trading volume. 

However, enthusiasm for memecoins dropped after a series of bad launches and rug pulls, killed off investor interest, such as the Libra (LIBRA) rug. 

Ultimately, Guthrie thinks there is still a “lot of innovation to do,” and it’s still “very early days,” but the market has matured and has greater sustainability compared to previous cycles. 

Additional reporting by Sam Bourgi.

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The Pacific US territory of the Northern Mariana Islands has passed a bill allowing its small constituent island of Tinian to launch a stablecoin, overriding an earlier veto by the territory’s governor.

The 20-member Northern Mariana Islands House voted 14-2 to undo Governor Arnold Palacios’ April 11 veto of the bill, which allows the Tinian local government to issue licenses to internet casinos and includes a provision for the Tinian treasurer to issue, manage and redeem a “Tinian Stable Token.” 

The territory’s nine-member Senate had revived the bill on May 9, voting 7-1 in a two-thirds majority to override the veto, which then needed a two-thirds majority in the House to pass.

Representative Marissa Flores (top left) had urged for “thoughtful deliberation” on the internet gaming and stablecoin bill. Source: YouTube

Originally, a four-member Tinian delegation to the Marianas legislature had unanimously passed the bill to Governor Palacios on March 12.

It may put the Tinian government in the lead to be the first US public entity to issue a stablecoin, which it must do before July if it’s to beat the state of Wyoming government, which is aiming to issue a stablecoin by then.

Tinian has just over 2,000 residents and a largely tourism-based economy. Its local government, the Municipality of Tinian and Aguiguan, is one of four municipalities in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, a US territory in the Pacific Ocean north of Guam.

Governor Palacios said in a letter that he vetoed the bill as it “presents several legal issues and may be unconstitutional,” would regulate an activity that could not “be clearly restricted” to Tinian and that it lacked needed enforcement measures to counter illegal gambling.

The stablecoin is called the Marianas US Dollar (MUSD) and will be backed by cash and US Treasury bills held in reserve by the Tinian Municipal Treasury, according to statements shared with Cointelegraph in March.

The Tinian government chose local tech services firm Marianas Rai Corporation as the exclusive infrastructure provider for MUSD, which will be launched on the eCash blockchain, a network that rebranded from Bitcoin Cash ABC in 2021 and is a fork of Bitcoin Cash, a blockchain forked from Bitcoin.

A Marianas Rai Corp. spokesperson did not comment beyond telling Cointelegraph the company would announce more on MUSD on May 19.

“Bitter pill to swallow”

Before the vote, House lawmakers heard from the public and discussed overturning Governor Palacios’ veto before they voted it through, with independent House floor leader Marissa Flores airing concerns over the bill.

Marianas Rai Corp. co-founder and technology chief Vin Armani had urged lawmakers to undo the veto, saying the bill would “attract billions of dollars of investment and tax revenue” from the crypto industry without the government having to pitch in.

Clyde Norita, a Marianas Rai Corp. director and local legal cannabis mogul, told the House that the local economy was “dying out” and the bill would allow business in the region “without affecting our culture, without affecting our environment, without affecting our immigration status.”

Representative Flores, who voted against the override, said, “Every time we talk about casinos, there’s always some kind of bitter pill to swallow.”

Related: Stablecoin regulation ‘next catalyst’ for crypto industry — Aptos head 

“It is true, we are in dire need of money, but what I don’t like is when we are desperate, and we are now forced to make a decision because we are desperate once again,” she added. “Every time we’re desperate, it always seems that we come back to casinos.”

“I don’t like to be pushed to a corner to make a decision based on fear,” Flores said.

Others were more supportive of the measure, with Republican Representative Patrick San Nicolas, a Tinian delegation member who initially voted on the bill, saying it would help pull the region out of “a deep economic crisis.”

“We need this legislation to unlock our potential,” he added. “This bill does not depend on tourists or federal subsidies — it builds a digital industry generating revenue from a licensed jurisdiction.”

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