Sergei Potapenko and Ivan Turõgin have each pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud conspiracy on Wednesday in connection with their operation of the nine-figure cryptocurrency mining service HashFlare, after their Am Law 100 firm counsel convinced the U.S. Department of Justice to strike nearly 20 counts.
Mark Bini, a partner at Reed Smith in its Miami and New York offices, noted that his client, Potapenko, admitted to a conspiracy of certain false statements about the mining level at HashFlare, regrets that conduct and accepts responsibility for it. Also, the government conceded that the crypto sent to customers was worth about $350 million, not $575 million as alleged.