Ivan Turogin and Sergei Potapenko, co-founders of the now-inactive Bitcoin cloud mining platform HashFlare, are set to be extradited from Estonia to the United States. The Estonian government has met the necessary conditions to resume the extradition process. Turogin and Potapenko were arrested in Estonia in November 2022, facing charges of conspiracy, wire fraud, and conspiracy to commit money laundering in the U.S. They are accused of operating HashFlare as a Ponzi scheme, collecting $575 million before its collapse in 2019. The U.S. Department of Justice alleges that the co-founders misrepresented their mining operations and defrauded investors. The extradition of Turogin and Potapenko signals a step toward potential legal proceedings in the United States related to the HashFlare case. The U.S. authorities have accused the co-founders of orchestrating a significant scam with numerous victims. If extradited, they may face charges of fraud and money laundering. The case highlights the need for regulatory scrutiny and investor protection in the cryptocurrency and cloud mining space. (Source: Cointelegraph)
