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The Hungarian Parliament passed Bill XXXVIII of 2026, which abolishes legal provisions related to cryptocurrency asset conversion services, including the verification requirements that European exchanges must pass to operate legally in Hungary. The bill was voted on and passed on July 31 and came into effect on August 7.This abolition simultaneously cancels two charges related to cryptocurrency assets: unauthorized trading of high-value cryptocurrency assets can result in a maximum of 5 years in prison, and violating verification obligations when providing cryptocurrency exchange services can result in a maximum of 8 years in prison. The relevant provisions were criticized for overlapping with the EU MiCA framework.

On the morning of August 20, 2026, the Intermediate People's Court of Shenzhen City, Guangdong Province publicly announced the first-instance verdict in the case of Evergrande Group Co., Ltd., Evergrande Real Estate Group Co., Ltd., and defendant Xu Jiayin. The court imposed multiple penalties on Evergrande Group, sentencing it to a fine of 8.82 billion yuan; it fined Evergrande Real Estate 7 billion yuan; and sentenced Xu Jiayin to life imprisonment for multiple crimes, depriving him of political rights for life, and confiscating all personal property; it also ordered the continued recovery of illegal gains, with any shortfall to be compensated.The court found that Xu Jiayin is the actual controller of Evergrande Group. Between 2016 and 2021, Evergrande Group, Evergrande Real Estate, and Xu Jiayin inflated assets and concealed liabilities through financial fraud and other means, committing crimes such as illegally absorbing public deposits, fundraising fraud, fraudulent issuance of securities, and illegally disclosing important information; they also obtained control of financial institutions through bribery, illegally siphoning off credit and insurance funds. Xu Jiayin further exploited his position to organize financial fraud, misappropriating company property under the guise of dividends. The court deemed these actions to severely disrupt the market economic order, with particularly huge amounts involved and particularly heinous circumstances, and imposed severe penalties according to the law.On the same day, the two levels of courts in Shenzhen also ruled on the cases of individuals involved in Evergrande related to illegally absorbing public deposits and fundraising fraud, sentencing 56 individuals including Zhen Litiao, Ke Peng, Xu Tenghe, and Xu Zhijian to prison terms ranging from eighteen years to one year and ten months, along with fines or confiscation of property.

According to Decrypt, the Myanmar parliament passed a law on Tuesday that allows for the death penalty for those who coerce others into engaging in online fraud through violence or illegal detention.According to the draft bill released in May this year, if such abusive behavior results in the death of the victim, the death penalty should be imposed. The new law also stipulates that individuals operating online fraud parks or implementing "digital currency fraud (cryptocurrency fraud)" can be sentenced to life imprisonment; while criminals who commit violent coercion, illegal detention, and other acts can be sentenced to 10 years to life imprisonment.

According to Decrypt, the Cambodian National Assembly has unanimously passed a new bill to combat online fraud, targeting operators of large-scale scam operations that utilize cryptocurrency, with a maximum penalty of life imprisonment. The bill is still pending review by the Senate and final approval from King Norodom Sihamoni.Under the bill, the core leaders of scam groups will face 15 to 30 years in prison, and if death results, they could be sentenced to life imprisonment; organizers can be sentenced to up to 20 years and fined heavily, while participants may face 2 to 5 years in prison and fines of up to $125,000.Analysis indicates that cryptocurrency scams such as "pig butchering" have rapidly spread in Southeast Asia in recent years, relying on cryptocurrency for cross-border transfers and money laundering, with annual amounts involved reaching hundreds of billions of dollars. Such crackdowns may lead to scams "shifting rather than disappearing," and the key lies in whether there is simultaneous action against corruption protection, money laundering networks, and cross-border capital flow systems.

The People's Court of Lechang City, Shaoguan, Guangdong Province, has concluded a foreign-related fraud case. The criminals, after gaining the victim's trust, guided the victim to invest in virtual currency on a fraudulent platform, thereby defrauding the victim of their property. The Lechang Court sentenced the criminals to fixed-term imprisonment ranging from eight months to six months and imposed fines.The judge reminds that the so-called "only defrauding foreigners" is by no means a legal exemption. Overseas is not a lawless land, and one should not easily believe the fallacy that "defrauding foreigners is not a crime."

ChainCatcher news, according to Hong Kong media Dongwang, Hong Kong law enforcement has arrested two local men on suspicion of installing mining machines for virtual currency mining in a residential care home for the disabled in Cheung Sha Wan, resulting in additional costs of up to 9,000 HKD for the home. The two have been temporarily charged with electricity theft, and the case is still under investigation.It is reported that electricity theft in Hong Kong is considered a serious crime. According to the Theft Ordinance, anyone who dishonestly uses electricity without proper authorization, or dishonestly causes electricity waste or transmits electricity elsewhere, is committing an offense, which can result in a maximum imprisonment of 5 years.

ChainCatcher news, according to Deshgujarat, an Indian anti-corruption court has sentenced 14 people to life imprisonment, including 11 police officials and a former Indian People's Party (BJP) legislator, for the crime of kidnapping an Indian businessman and extorting cryptocurrency. The judge found the gang guilty of criminal conspiracy, kidnapping for ransom, illegal detention, and assault.It is reported that Indian businessman Shailesh Bhatt recovered part of his investment in the form of Bitcoin after the collapse of the BitConnect company he invested in. However, upon learning that he had recovered part of his investment, the aforementioned officials plotted a kidnapping scheme to seize the cryptocurrency. Ultimately, Shailesh Bhatt was released only after agreeing to transfer part of his Bitcoin and $3.6 million in cash.

ChainCatcher news, according to a court announcement, U.S. District Court Judge William Alsup has sentenced former CEO Daniel Schatt and CFO Joseph Podulka of the cryptocurrency lending institution Cred LLC to 52 months and 36 months of federal imprisonment, respectively, for conspiracy to commit wire fraud.In addition to imprisonment, Judge Alsup also sentenced Schatt and Podulka to three years of supervised release and ordered them to pay a fine of $25,000. The defendants are set to begin their sentences on October 28, 2025. Judge Alsup has scheduled a restitution hearing for October 7, 2025.According to the plea agreement, Schatt and Podulka conspired to provide incomplete and misleading positive descriptions of Cred's business while failing to disclose significant negative information regarding the challenges and risks facing Cred's business, which would harm Cred's customers.On November 7, 2020, Cred filed for bankruptcy. In the Cred bankruptcy proceedings, customers and investors of Cred submitted over 6,000 claims totaling more than $140 million.According to the government's sentencing memorandum, based on the valuation of various cryptocurrencies as of August 2025, the total amount of these claims exceeds $1 billion.

ChainCatcher news, according to the official account of the Supreme People's Procuratorate, on August 27, the Supreme People's Court and the Supreme People's Procuratorate ("Two Highs") released typical cases of punishing the concealment and hiding of criminal proceeds and the crimes of criminal proceeds, accurately identifying crimes committed by means such as virtual currency to conceal and hide criminal proceeds. The case of "An Certain et al. Concealing and Hiding Criminal Proceeds" was selected. In this case, the three defendants assisted criminals in transferring large amounts of funds on a digital currency trading platform and used funds transferred from others into bank card accounts to purchase virtual currency. The verified amount of money defrauded from victims totaled over 500,000 yuan, with serious circumstances, and all were sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment and fined.

ChainCatcher news, according to the report from the official account of the Danzhou People's Procuratorate, a certain criminal gang used "contract cryptocurrency trading" as a bait to attract investments in virtual currencies with promises of high returns, illegally absorbing public deposits totaling over 10 million yuan, a huge amount. The Danzhou People's Procuratorate has filed a public prosecution for the crime of illegally absorbing public deposits.After examination, the Danzhou People's Procuratorate determined that the actions of this criminal gang violated the Criminal Procedure Law of the People's Republic of China, constituting a joint crime of illegally absorbing public deposits, and they were sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment and fined.

ChainCatcher news, according to Cointelegraph, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania disclosed that 45-year-old NFT trader Waylon Wilcox admitted to two counts of submitting false personal income tax returns. The trader sold 62 CryptoPunk NFTs in 2021, earning approximately $7.4 million in profit, and then sold 35 CryptoPunk NFTs in 2022, making a profit of $4.9 million.It is reported that Waylon Wilco submitted a false personal income tax return for the 2021 tax year in April 2022, underreporting approximately $8.5 million in income tax and about $2.1 million in taxes owed; in October 2023, Waylon Wilco submitted another false personal income tax return for the 2022 tax year, underreporting approximately $4.6 million in income tax and nearly $1.1 million in taxes owed.

ChainCatcher news, according to Decrypt, the 22nd District Court of Istanbul, Turkey, has dismissed the "organized crime" charges against Thodex founder Faruk Fatih Ozer, but still maintains the fraud charges and continues to detain him.Ozer is accused of defrauding over 400,000 users due to the collapse of the Thodex exchange in 2021, with the amount involved reaching $2 billion. In September 2023, he was sentenced to 11,196 years in prison. His legal team stated that they will push for further sentence reduction and emphasized that "the judicial process is not yet over."Thodex was a leading exchange in Turkey, which suddenly closed in April 2021, leaving 391,000 users unable to withdraw their funds. Ozer fled but was arrested and extradited from Albania in 2022. The court had previously found him guilty of money laundering, fraud, and other charges, but the latest ruling determined that some of the charges lacked sufficient evidence.

ChainCatcher news, a court in Kazakhstan has sentenced three cryptocurrency exchange operators to imprisonment. According to the official report from the Financial Regulatory Agency (AFM) operated by the Kazakhstan government, the court sentenced these three individuals to 2.5 to 3.5 years in prison, and the bailiffs confiscated their assets worth $750,000.The three individuals "operated a platform without a license" and "charged fees for exchanging cryptocurrencies." The illegal exchange processed cryptocurrency transactions worth over $1.28 million for approximately 380 clients. Prosecutors provided "client" bank statements as evidence. The bailiffs confiscated the assets of the three, "including real estate, five cars, a four-wheeler, and expensive computer equipment."

ChainCatcher news, according to market news, Sam Bankman-Fried's former deputy, FTX co-founder Gary Wang, has been spared from imprisonment by a U.S. judge due to his role in the FTX cryptocurrency fraud case.

According to ChainCatcher news, as reported by the Guangming Daily, the Ministry of State Security announced a case on November 8: Wang XX, a former public official at a sensitive unit, was considered a good young man by his unit and family. However, due to losses in virtual currency investments, he incurred huge debts and was lured and incited by foreign espionage intelligence agencies, gradually leading him down the path of crime.Through investigations by the national security agency, it was discovered that Wang XX provided top-secret and confidential national secrets to the other party, obtaining espionage funds equivalent to over 1 million yuan through methods such as virtual currency recharge and trading. Ultimately, Wang XX was sentenced to life imprisonment for espionage by the people's court, with lifelong deprivation of political rights.The unit where Wang XX worked did not strictly implement confidentiality management systems and protective measures, providing an opportunity for Wang XX to steal and supply secrets to foreign espionage intelligence agencies. The national security agency, in conjunction with relevant departments, will carry out joint law enforcement work on Wang XX's unit and order it to rectify within a specified time.

ChainCatcher news, Zhao Changpeng stated during an interview at the main venue of the Dubai Binance Blockchain Week: "In fact, several prison guards recognized me and asked me which tokens they should buy. I could only tell them that I am serving my sentence, without any internet connection to the outside world, and I cannot get any information."

ChainCatcher news, according to Decrypt, South Korean financial regulators have issued a stern warning, stating that a life sentence will be imposed for cryptocurrency fraud cases that profit over $4 million (approximately 5 billion won). This warning was issued following the enactment of the South Korean "Virtual Asset User Protection Act" in July 2024, which aims to prevent cryptocurrency crimes, partly inspired by the events involving Terra/Luna founder Do Kwon and the collapse of the FTX exchange.In addition, the new law stipulates other penalties, including fines of 3 to 5 times the illegal profits, as well as a maximum of one year of imprisonment.

ChainCatcher news, according to News.bitcoin, the Paraguayan Senate has passed a series of reforms that change the penalties for energy theft related to cryptocurrency mining. Now, individuals and companies found stealing energy for cryptocurrency mining activities will face up to 10 years in prison, while energy theft for other purposes will face a maximum penalty of 3 years.

ChainCatcher news, the Paraguayan government urges lawmakers to pass a bill that imposes up to 10 years of imprisonment on illegal Bitcoin miners to address the significant theft of electricity threatening the state-owned National Electricity Administration (ANDE).The bill stipulates that Paraguayan police and prosecutors can confiscate and sell illegal mining equipment to protect the National Electricity Administration from the enormous economic losses caused by energy theft. In this crackdown, more than 5,000 ASIC miners have already been confiscated this year, and the legislative momentum could potentially lead to a temporary ban on Bitcoin mining in the country.