HYDRO – Who else recevied a victim assistance email from DOJ regarding the court case ?

As a victim witness professional,

my role is to assist you with information and services during the prosecution of the above-captioned case. We are contacting you because either you or your organization was identified by law enforcement as a victim or potential victim during the investigation of the above criminal case.

Latest Update:

The sentencing hearing as to defendant Michael Kane has been set for April 19, 2024 at 2:00 PM before Judge Kathleen M. Williams. The sentencing hearing as to defendant Shane Hampton has been set for April 29, 2024 at 10:30 AM before Senior Judge Patricia A. Seitz. Both hearings will be held at the Wilkie D. Ferguson, Jr. United States Courthouse, 400 North Miami Avenue, Miami, FL 33128. You are welcome to attend these proceedings; however, unless you have received a subpoena, your attendance is not required by the Court.

If you are a victim and would like to submit a Victim Impact Statement, you may complete the form attached to this email. All statements and supporting documentation must be submitted no later than April 12, 2024.

Criminal Charges:

On April 24, 2023, an indictment was unsealed charging Michael Kane, Shane Hampton, and George Wolvaardt with conspiring to manipulate the market for HYDRO, a virtual asset created by the Hydrogen Technology Corporation. According to court documents, from around June 2018 through April 2019, Michael Kane, Shane Hampton, and George Wolvaardt conspired to manipulate the market for HYDRO, a token on the Ethereum blockchain platform, and defraud market participants by creating the false appearance of supply and demand for HYDRO to induce other market participants to trade at prices, quantities, and times that they otherwise would not have traded.

The defendants used a trading bot to place thousands of orders that they did not intend to execute, or “spoof orders,” and thousands of orders where the bot bought and sold tokens to itself through the same account, or “wash trades.” The co-conspirators reaped $2 million in profit through their sales of HYDRO at artificially inflated prices. As alleged in the indictment, Kane was the co-founder and CEO of Hydrogen Technology and Hampton was the Chief of Financial Engineering for the company. Wolvaardt was the Chief Technology Officer for Moonwalkers Trading Limited, a self-described “market-making” firm that purportedly designed the trading bot and was hired by Kane and Hampton to manipulate the market for HYDRO.

On November 30, 2023, defendant Michael Kane pled guilty to conspiracy to commit securities price manipulation, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, and two individual counts of wire fraud. On February 7, 2024, a jury found defendant Shane Hampton guilty of conspiracy to commit securities price manipulation and conspiracy to commit wire fraud.

https://www.anylaw.com/case/usa-v-kane-et-al/s-d-florida/01-06-2024/GM2D54wBqcoRgE-ImqYj

I invested in Hydro on Bittrex platform with the all evidences. What should I do or expect from this case ?