PANews reported on February 14 that according to The Block, the U.S. Department of Justice said that Estonian nationals Sergei Potapenko and Ivan Turõgin, operators of the defunct cloud mining service HashFlare, pleaded guilty to multiple charges involving a $577 million cryptocurrency Ponzi scheme. Potapenko and Turõgin's sentencing will be held on May 8, and they face up to 20 years in prison.

HashFlare suspended its mining services in 2018 and eventually ceased operations, having made more than $577 million in profits. Potapenko and Turõgin were arrested in Tallinn, Estonia, in November 2022 and charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud (16 counts), one count of wire fraud, and one count of conspiracy to launder money, and were subsequently extradited to the United States.