A gang in Fujian, China organized a pyramid scheme under the guise of virtual currency and NFTs, and the second-instance court rejected their appeal
ChainCatcher news, according to reports from the Justice Network, from May to August 2023, Li and others, under the guise of issuing a certain virtual currency, established a hierarchical reward mechanism based on invitation relationships. They formed groups on social platforms to promote both online and offline, publicizing to the general public and enticing participants to gain entry qualifications by purchasing virtual currency, staking assets, and bidding on virtual cards, while obtaining rebates based on the number of downline members developed. By October 2023, when the case was uncovered, the organization had developed multiple levels and absorbed funds equivalent to over 20 million yuan.The Shishi City People's Procuratorate in Fujian Province reviewed and determined that although the organization packaged itself with emerging concepts such as virtual currency and NFTs, its operational model still conformed to the crime of organizing and leading pyramid selling activities as stipulated in the Criminal Law of the People's Republic of China: First, the project established a "threshold fee" in disguise through the purchase of virtual currency and participation in private placements of virtual assets as a prerequisite for joining and developing others; second, it established clear superior-subordinate relationships and hierarchical structures, using the number of personnel developed and the performance of subordinates as the basis for compensation and rebates; third, there were no real business activities or sustainable sources of income, and the operation of funds relied on the payments from new members to provide returns to earlier members, exhibiting obvious characteristics of fraud.Li and others created an illusion of profit by manipulating backend parameters and artificially intervening in the so-called "synthesis probability" and "release mechanism," enticing participants to continuously invest and develop downlines, which constitutes the use of new technological concepts to cover up traditional pyramid scheme crimes, severely infringing on the property rights of the public and disrupting the economic and social order.In June 2024, the Shishi City People's Procuratorate legally prosecuted the members of the gang. In December 2024, the court sentenced four defendants to prison terms ranging from six years and six months to three years for organizing and leading pyramid selling activities, imposed fines, and confiscated illegal gains. After the defendants filed an appeal, in July 2025, the appellate court ruled to dismiss the appeal and upheld the original judgment.