Rodney Burton, also known as Bitcoin Rodney, has pleaded guilty to a conspiracy charge tied to HyperFund, a $1.8 billion crypto fraud that drew in investors worldwide.
The 56-year-old entered the plea in a federal court. He now faces up to five years in prison, with sentencing scheduled for July 23.
Inside the HyperFund Crypto Fraud
According to prosecutors, HyperFund marketed itself as a crypto investment platform. It promised members who purchased HyperFund “memberships” daily returns of 0.5% to 1%, funded in part from cryptocurrency mining revenues.
Those mining operations never existed. The global wire-fraud operation instead siphoned roughly $1.8 billion from investors worldwide.
“HyperFund, which purported as a legitimate cryptocurrency investment platform, but in truth, was a global wire-fraud scheme that obtained $1.8 billion from victim-investors worldwide,” the press release read.
The incident reflects a wider trend in crypto, where rising cyberattacks are accompanied by increasingly complex scams targeting digital asset holders.
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Burton’s Role and What Comes Next
According to court documents, Burton “conspired to provide unlicensed money transmitting services to promote HyperFund” between June 2020 and January 2022. At the same time, he profited from the funds.
Investigators said he controlled multiple entities presented as consulting firms but that allegedly operated as unauthorized money-transmission businesses. Through these operations, Burton received at least $7.85 million, including funds traced to HyperFund investors in Maryland.
His guilty plea follows earlier action against three HyperFund operators, including co-founder Sam Lee. The case adds to a widening list of crypto prosecutions reaching US courts this year. Burton will learn his sentence on July 23 before US District Judge Richard Bennett.
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