PANews reported on April 18 that Taizhou, Zhejiang police reported a fraud case involving "Metaverse" and "virtual currency." The fraud ring, under the guise of promoting facial recognition payment devices, defrauded over 130 investors of more than 35 million yuan. The criminal gang charged franchise fees ranging from several thousand to tens of thousands of yuan under the pretense of joining the facial recognition payment device franchise, offering points that were promised could be redeemed for gifts or company IPO shares in the future. After accumulating points, they falsely claimed that they needed to be linked to the "GDFC" virtual currency to be cashed out, boasting that the currency had huge appreciation potential. In reality, GDFC was a "worthless coin" issued by the gang itself. They induced victims to invest more by locking up funds, manipulating prices, and using "currency exchange" methods. All investment funds ultimately flowed into the gang's personal accounts through a complex process, used for wealth management, real estate purchases, and extravagant spending.

Ultimately, the court sentenced the defendant to 10 years in prison for fraud and fined him 200,000 yuan. His appeal was rejected after the first instance trial, and the original verdict was upheld.