Bitcoiner sentenced to federal prison warns users involved in OTC trading

"I'm just a regular Bitcoiner caught in the crosshairs," said Mark Alexander Hopkins, also known as Rizzn, before serving his sentence sentence.

Mark Alexander Hopkins, also known by the nickname “Doctor Bitcoin” or their pseudonym Rizzn, claimed that “p2p Bitcoin transaction is a federal crime” after announcing the punishment in their case to social media followers.< /p>

In a Twitter thread on Sunday, Hopkins said they faced between 6 and 15 months in a Texas federal correctional facility following a guilty plea for allegedly operating a crypto business without the necessary licenses. According to Rizzn, the US Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, or FinCEN, used a 2019 interpretation of a law - 18 U.S.C. 1960: originally enacted in 1992 to charge them with illegally operating a "transfer business of money".

“This means that whenever someone with crypto trades p2p (i.e. not with an exchange), they are legally responsible under this law as it is currently interpreted”, said Rizzn. “In practice, it's a catch-all law. I was originally suspected of being the kingpin of this particular scam, and when it was clear I wasn't, they were able to easily put together a case that I hadn't registered at the level. federal before selling my bitcoins. »

So good, I disconnect for an indefinite period. I'm heading to Beaumont FCI where Uncle Sam will foot my room and board bill for the next 6-15 months for the crime of selling #Bitcoin a few years ago. pic.twitter.com/2VwI2KEZ4N

The Bitcoiner, who said he joined the space in 2011, claimed he was “one of hundreds of thousands of OTC traders” in 2019 amid a bad actor involved in a lottery scheme illegal using trading group to launder funds with bitcoin (