My Big Coin cryptocurrency firm founder gets 8 years in prison for fraud

Randall Crater, the founder of the defunct cryptocurrency business My Big Coin, arrives at the federal courthouse to be sentenced, after he was found guilty of committing wire fraud and making unlawful monetary transactions, in Boston, Massachusetts, U.S., January 31, 2023. REUTERS/Brian Snyder

BOSTON (Reuters) - The founder of a defunct cryptocurrency business was sentenced on Tuesday to more than eight years in prison for defrauding investors and customers out of millions of dollars by marketing a virtual currency called My Big Coin with lies and half-truths.

Federal prosecutors had urged U.S. District Judge Denise Casper in Boston to impose a 13-year prison term on Randall Crater to send a message to others in the first sentencing of a cryptocurrency company founder for a marketing fraud.