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Austin CluCoin, a cryptocurrency project based in Miami, was founded by Michael Taylor, who has admitted to stealing more than $1 million from investors. The forty-year-old Maryland resident fed his addiction to online cryptocurrency casinos with the pilfered money.
In court filings submitted to a Florida court last week, Taylor acknowledged transferring funds meant for CluCoin-related endeavors into his own cryptocurrency wallets. He subsequently used these money to support online casinos. In order to help humanitarian causes, Taylor introduced CluCoin to his large internet following in the spring of 2021. However, after the project’s May 2021 initial coin offering (ICO), CluCoin’s value and trading volume fell precipitously. Taylor decided to change CluCoin’s original charitable goal as a result of this downturn.
Throughout 2022, while publicly reassuring investors about CluCoin’s development—including a metaverse-based video game called “Xenia”—Taylor was privately battling a gambling addiction. Court documents reveal that he transferred $1.14 million of investor money to various online casinos, including Stake.com.
In January 2023, Taylor publicly admitted to his misuse of investor funds for gambling and handed control of CluCoin over to his business associates. On August 15, he pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud. As part of his plea deal, Taylor agreed to forfeit the $1.14 million he misappropriated to provide restitution to his victims.
Taylor is scheduled to be sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Jacqueline Becerra in the Southern District of Florida on October 31 at 10:00 a.m. He faces a potential maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.