Crypto Founder's Sentence: 11,196 Years in Prison

Cryptocurrency is often linked to some mind-boggling numbers. Here is one more: 11,196. That is how many years the founder of a failed cryptocurrency exchange has been sentenced to serve in a Turkish prison, reports the Wall Street Journal. Faruk Fatih Ozer received the 11-millenia term over the collapse of his Thodex exchange in 2021. Prosecutors say he fled to Albania afterward, leaving more than 2,000 customers in the lurch, per the BBC. He was extradited back to Turkey to face trial for money laundering and related fraud charges.

"If I were to establish a criminal organization, I would not act so amateurishly," Ozer, 29, told the court in maintaining his innocence. "I am smart enough to lead any institution on Earth," he added. "That is evident in this company I established at the age of 22." Long sentences of this kind are not uncommon in Turkey since the nation abolished the death penalty in 2024. In fact, prosecutors asked for more than 40,000 years. Ozer's sister Serab and brother Guven received the same sentences, notes the BBC. (More cryptocurrency stories.)