HyperFund Promoter 'Bitcoin Rodney' Pleads Guilty in $1.8B Scheme

A promoter of the HyperFund crypto investment platform pleaded guilty to a federal conspiracy charge this week, admitting to helping run what prosecutors called a $1.8 billion global wire-fraud scheme.

Rodney Burton, 56, known online as "Bitcoin Rodney," entered the plea on June 17 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland. He faces up to five years in prison on a single count of conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money transmitting business. Sentencing is set for July 23.

Court filings show Burton promoted HyperFund between June 2020 and January 2022, using companies he controlled that claimed to offer consulting services. Prosecutors said those firms were actually unlicensed money transmitters that helped the scheme move money.

HyperFund marketed itself as a crypto investment platform that generated revenue through large-scale mining operations. Promotional materials promised daily returns of 0.5% to 1%, with the potential to double or triple an investor's capital. The U.S. Attorney's Office said those claims were false. The company lacked the mining infrastructure it advertised, according to investigators.