Sergei Potapenko and Ivan Turõgin
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Summary
Sergei Potapenko and Ivan Turõgin are Estonian nationals who co-founded HashFlare, a cloud cryptocurrency mining service that operated from 2015 to 2019 and generated more than $577 million in sales while allegedly lacking the computing capacity to perform the mining it sold. Both men pleaded guilty on February 12, 2025 in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington to one count each of conspiracy to commit wire fraud; they were sentenced on August 12–13, 2025 to time served (16 months in custody) plus $25,000 fines and 360 hours of community service, a result the DOJ has appealed to the Ninth Circuit as unusually lenient.
Connected Entities
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Timeline(11 events)
1 January 2015
HashFlare cloud cryptocurrency mining service launched by Potapenko and Turõgin.
DOJ Press Release1 January 2017
Polybius ICO launched, raising at least $25 million from investors with promises of a digital bank that was never established.
DOJ / CryptoPotato1 January 2019
HashFlare operations effectively ceased. Total sales over the 2015–2019 period exceeded $577 million.
DOJ Press Release20 November 2022
Potapenko and Turõgin arrested in Tallinn, Estonia, pursuant to an 18-count federal indictment from the Western District of Washington.
DOJ / OCCRP1 November 2023
Tallinn Circuit Court blocks initial extradition order for Turõgin and Potapenko.
Bitcoin.com News1 May 2024
Potapenko and Turõgin extradited from Estonia to the United States following Estonian government approval.
Estonian World Review / Aigbe Law12 February 2025
Potapenko and Turõgin each plead guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington. Both agree to forfeit assets worth over $400 million.
DOJ Press Release18 April 2025
DHS mistakenly issues self-deportation orders to both defendants. DOJ coordinates with DHS to defer the orders, preserving the scheduled sentencing.
CoinDesk12 August 2025
Judge Robert S. Lasnik sentences Potapenko and Turõgin to time served (16 months), $25,000 fines each, and 360 hours of community service. Prosecutors had requested 10-year prison terms.
CoinCentral / Spokesman-Review1 September 2025
DOJ files appeal with the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals challenging the time-served sentence as 'unusually lenient.'
Yahoo Finance / CoinFomaniaDecision Log
- #1publishNot recorded (failed)10/8/2026, 12:03:52 PMhash BGJCsFpdUQN1iKWqfAQNPRVqdeyPLyx9DVUa8TvXrSpU
model: claude-sonnet-4-6
generated: 10/8/2026, 12:03:43 PM
last updated: 10/8/2026, 4:50:14 PM
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