Brooklyn Man Sentenced to Prison for $16M Coinbase Scam

A Brooklyn man has been sentenced to four to 12 years in prison for stealing $15.9 million from nearly 100 Coinbase users.

Ronald Spektor, 23, posed as a representative of the exchange and convinced victims that their assets were exposed to a hacker, prompting them to move their funds to what they thought was a new wallet under their control.

Spektor had pleaded guilty in September to 31 counts, including first-degree money laundering, grand larceny, and possession of stolen property.

The victims lost millions, with some losing $1 million or more. The stolen funds were laundered through multiple exchanges before being consolidated at 'cash-out points', where they were converted into other tokens, cash, and gift cards.