- The Coin Signals trading scam came to a conclusion last week as the founder was sentenced to jail time
- Jeremy Spence lost $3 million of investors’ money in 2018 in bad trades
- Spence was just 20 when he started the scam in 2017
The five-year story of the Coin Signals Bitcoin trading scam ended last week with a 42-month prison sentence for operator, Jeremy Spence. Spence, who was only 20 at the time he began trading on other people’s behalf as Coin Signals, was sentenced to three and a half years behind bars for illegally operating the trading scheme, which came to an abrupt end in 2018 after he blew up $3 million of the $5 million he was given by investors following a series of bad trades.
Coin Signals Started Trading in 2017
Spence started Coin Signals in November 2017, right at the peak of the bull market, making much of his profits during this time. Investors soon began sending Spence funds to trade with, a number that eventually hit 174 and very nearly included this author, but when the bear market hit soon after his wins began to turn to losses.
Bitcoin’s drop in the early part of 2018 caused many investors to request withdrawals, but Spence’s losses ment he had problems honoring them, coming to rely on new investors to pay off the old ones – the definition of a Ponzi scheme. It is suspected that Spence bet the entire Coin Signals farm on a Hail Mary in December 2018, betting that Bitcoin would bounce from $6,000. When it collapsed 50% instead however he abruptly left social media, and the recriminations began – as did the lawsuits.
Spence Pleaded Guilty to Commodities Fraud
It took until January 2021 for the FBI to arrest Spence at his Rhode Island home on fraud charges, with Spence pleading guilty to commodities fraud in December last year. His 42-month sentence will be followed by three years of supervised release, and restitution in the amount of $2,847,743.00 to make up the balance of what investors sent to him.
