A U.S. federal court on Friday handed down a prison sentence to a Danvers resident found guilty of operating an unlicensed Bitcoin exchange. Authorities say the platform, which operated without regulatory oversight, laundered over $1 million—some of it linked to scammers and drug dealers.

💰 Bitcoin for Cash – No Oversight, No Rules

The accused, Trung Nguyen—known online as “DCS420”—ran a company called National Vending from 2017 to 2020. It offered customers the ability to exchange cash for Bitcoin, charging a fee—but without any official registration with FinCEN or compliance with federal anti-money laundering (AML) laws.

Instead of transparency, Nguyen concealed the true nature of his operation by presenting it as a vending machine business and using encrypted messaging to communicate with clients. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, he deliberately made financial tracking difficult and broke large cash deposits into smaller chunks under the $10,000 reporting threshold.

🔍 “He used encrypted messaging apps, leveraged technologies that obscured Bitcoin transactions, and spread cash deposits over consecutive days or across branches to avoid detection,” federal prosecutors stated.

🧾 Ties to Fraud and Drug Trade

Investigators revealed Nguyen received hundreds of thousands of dollars from clients—including a meth dealer and victims of romance scams. While his platform functioned like a crypto exchange, it operated in total regulatory darkness—making it a convenient tool for criminal actors.

Nguyen was sentenced to six years in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release. He was also ordered to forfeit over $1.5 million deemed proceeds from illegal activity.

⚠️ Crypto Industry Faces Heightened Scrutiny

This isn’t an isolated case. U.S. authorities continue to crack down on illicit practices within the crypto sector. Earlier in May, Celsius Network founder Alex Mashinsky was sentenced to 12 years for defrauding users of billions of dollars in one of crypto’s most infamous collapses.

Mashinsky was convicted of deceiving investors and embezzling over $48 million. Thousands of people lost their life savings. The Nguyen case serves as a clear reminder that, despite the decentralized promise of crypto, U.S. law enforcement is watching—and acting.


#CryptoCrime , #MoneyLaundering , #CryptoNewss , #Regulation , #CryptoFraud

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