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UK Court Sentences 4 Men to 15 Years for $26M Crypto Fraud
The offenders used the internet to obtain millions, Jonathan Kelleher of the Crown Prosecution Service said.
Updated Jan 17, 2023, 4:14 p.m. Published Jan 17, 2023, 11:38 a.m.
Four men were sentenced to 15 years in prison by a U.K. court for fraudulently obtaining and laundering bitcoin (BTC) and other cryptocurrency worth around $26 million from an Australian crypto exchange, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said last week.
Stephen William Boys, Kelly Caton, Jordan Kane Robinson and James Austin-Beddoes were found guilty of fraud, converting and transferring criminal property at Lancashire, U.K.-based Preston Crown Court.
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All four men worked with James Parker who "masterminded the conspiracy from his home in Blackpool over a three-month period between October 2017 and January 2018," the statement said.
Parker had exploited a loophole on the trading platform that enabled him and his associates to acquire the funds. Parker died in January 2021.
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“These offenders used the internet from the comfort of their own homes to obtain tens of millions of pounds worth of bitcoin which did not belong to them," Jonathan Kelleher of the CPS said.
U.K. crypto fraud climbed by a third to reach over $270 million in one year according to data released in November from U.K. police unit Action Fraud. In January, the country's top crime agency put up a job posting for a cryptocurrency investigator and the U.K. police now has crypto experts stationed across the country.
Read more: UK Police Have Crypto Experts Stationed Nationwide
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Exchange Review - March 2025
CoinDesk Data's monthly Exchange Review captures the key developments within the cryptocurrency exchange market. The report includes analyses that relate to exchange volumes, crypto derivatives trading, market segmentation by fees, fiat trading, and more.
What to know:
Trading activity softened in March as market uncertainty grew amid escalating tariff tensions between the U.S. and global trading partners. Centralized exchanges recorded their lowest combined trading volume since October, declining 6.24% to $6.79tn. This marked the third consecutive monthly decline across both market segments, with spot trading volume falling 14.1% to $1.98tn and derivatives trading slipping 2.56% to $4.81tn.
- Trading Volumes Decline for Third Consecutive Month: Combined spot and derivatives trading volume on centralized exchanges fell by 6.24% to $6.79tn in March 2025, reaching the lowest level since October. Both spot and derivatives markets recorded their third consecutive monthly decline, falling 14.1% and 2.56% to $1.98tn and $4.81tn respectively.
- Institutional Crypto Trading Volume on CME Falls 23.5%: In March, total derivatives trading volume on the CME exchange fell by 23.5% to $175bn, the lowest monthly volume since October 2024. CME's market share among derivatives exchanges dropped from 4.63% to 3.64%, suggesting declining institutional interest amid current macroeconomic conditions.
- Bybit Spot Market Share Slides in March: Spot trading volume on Bybit fell by 52.1% to $81.1bn in March, coinciding with decreased trading activity following the hack of the exchange's cold wallets in February. Bybit's spot market share dropped from 7.35% to 4.10%, its lowest since July 2023.
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