Bitcoin Rodney pleads guilty in $1.8 billion HyperFund fraud case

Rodney Burton, the Miami crypto promoter known as “Bitcoin Rodney,” has pleaded guilty to helping run the HyperFund scheme, which prosecutors say caused $1.8 billion in losses between 2020 and 2022. For PSPs and acquirers, the useful detail is not the crypto gloss but the payment flow: prosecutors say investor funds moved through entities presented as consulting firms but operating as payment intermediaries.

1. Burton admitted he participated in organizing unlicensed money transmission as part of the HyperFund promotion. According to his plea, investor funds were routed through businesses that were marketed as consulting firms, but in practice acted as payment middlemen.
2. The Maryland U.S. Attorney’s Office said Burton received at least $7.85 million from the scheme. HyperFund’s marketing promised investors passive returns of 0.5% to 1% daily until the company doubled or tripled their initial investment.
3. Prosecutors say those payouts were supposed to come from cryptocurrency mining revenue. Law enforcement says no mining was actually taking place, and withdrawals for participants were blocked starting in 2021.
4. On the conspiracy count tied to the guilty plea, Burton faces five years in federal prison. Across all charges, he had faced up to 20 years. Sentencing is scheduled for July 23.
5. The same week, the U.S. Department of Justice charged 47-year-old Tennessee resident Misam M. Abidi with running a crypto pyramid scheme through Star Credit Holdings, allegedly stealing more than $1.9 million by promising returns from digital coin investments.

For payment providers, the HyperFund case is a familiar pattern: a high-yield crypto pitch, consulting-front entities, and payment rails used to move investor money until withdrawals stop. That combination tends to draw attention from banks, acquirers, and regulators long before the criminal case reaches sentencing.