‘Bitcoin Rodney’ Faces Decades in Prison as Feds Add Wire Fraud to HyperFund Charges

Rodney Burton, a 56-year-old crypto promoter known online as “Bitcoin Rodney,” is facing substantially expanded federal charges for his alleged role promoting the $1.8 billion HyperFund cryptocy scheme, according to a superseding indictment announced Friday by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Maryland.

The new indictment charges Burton with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, two counts of wire fraud, seven counts of money laundering, and one count of operating an unlicensed money transmitting business. If convicted on all counts, Burton faces a maximum of 20 years in federal prison for the wire fraud conspiracy and each wire fraud count, plus 10 years for each money laundering count and five years for the unlicensed money transmission charge.

The charges represent a significant escalation from Burton’s original Jan. 2024 criminal complaint, which included only two counts related to unlicensed money transmission carrying a maximum of five years each. Burton was arrested at Miami International Airport in Jan. 2024, with a one-way ticket to the UAE, and has been detained since a federal judge denied his bail request, citing him as an “extreme flight risk.”

According to court documents, Burton and his co-conspirators operated HyperFund, also known as HyperVerse, which they presented as a legitimate cryptocy investment platform, from June 2020 through May 2024. The scheme allegedly promised investors daily returns of 0.5% to 1% until their initial investments doubled or tripled, claiming the returns would come from large-scale crypto mining operations.

Those mining operations did not exist, prosecutors allege. Beginning in 2021, HyperFund started blocking investor withdrawals. The superseding indictment alleges Burton spent investor proceeds on luxury condominiums, sports cars, and a yacht. Burton’s trial is scheduled for March of next year. Burton built a significant crypto community profile, hosting a 2021 Miami event featuring Shark Tank’s Daymond John and singer Akon, and appearing on social media alongside celebrities like Jamie Foxx and Rick Ross. Court documents note a prior conviction for conspiracy to distribute cocaine.

Burton recently claimed in court documents that he believed he was running a legitimate business, and alleged that co-founder and Australian entrepreneur Xue Lee, also known as Sam Lee, constructed an “elaborate deception” to mislead both investors and Burton himself. Lee and promoter Brenda “Bitcoin Beautee” Chunga were charged in Jan. 2024 with fraud and unregistered security offerings by the SEC, The Block previously reported. Chunga pleaded guilty, while Lee remains at large.

Terron Gold