The founders of the defunct crypto mining service HashFlare, Sergei Potapenko and Ivan Turõgin, have requested a US court to consider their time served in custody as adequate punishment after admitting to wire fraud. The US prosecutors, however, are pushing for a 10-year prison sentence, arguing that their actions constituted a Ponzi scheme that defrauded customers out of approximately $300 million. Though they were arrested in Estonia in November 2022 and extradited to the US in May 2024, Potapenko and Turõgin argue that their customers ultimately profit from their investments due to rising cryptocurrency prices. Lawyers for the duo claim customers withdrew $2.3 billion after investing $487 million, disputing the notion of significant victim losses. Prosecutors counter that HashFlare's fraud, affecting over 440,000 clients, is the largest the court has addressed, and the seriousness of their crime demands a substantial sentence. Their fate now rests with Judge Robert Lasnik, who will rule on their sentencing on August 14.

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