According to ChainCatcher, a South Korean court has sentenced a man to prison for creating a fake securities trading platform and laundering $4.2 million in illicit profits through cryptocurrency.
According to market sources, the operators of this fake platform copied the trademarks and data of a "well-known" securities company in an attempt to make the scam appear more legitimate. The case was heard in the Gwangju District Court's Criminal Division, where presiding Judge Kim Young-kyu stated that the platform defrauded 116 victims. Judge Kim ultimately sentenced the man to eight years in prison. The court hearing indicated that his accomplices, around 41 years old, helped him repeatedly convert $2.9 million from investors into cryptocurrency through company accounts and private wallets to launder money. This case highlights the surge in criminal activity within the crypto industry. According to FBI data, reported losses from crypto investment scams exceeded $5.8 billion in 2024. According to DefiLlama, cybercriminals stole over $2.4 billion through hacking and exploits in 2025, double the amount in 2024. Furthermore, so-called "pig butchering" scams stole $4 billion in 2024, and Chainalysis data shows that related cases are surging.
