I've been following this story for a while, and I have to say that the Austrian court's verdict on EXW is quite interesting. Five individuals have been convicted for one of the biggest crypto scams in the country's history, after a year-long trial with 60 days of hearings.

What stands out is how it was orchestrated: they promised fake returns on a token that didn't even exist, while promoting other ventures under the same brand — real estate, car rentals, the usual scheme. The EXW wallet, launched in 2019, turned out to be an elaborate MLM Ponzi scheme that defrauded at least 40,000 investors out of 20 million euros. They promised returns between 0.1% and 0.32% per day — numbers that should immediately raise red flags for anyone with some experience.

Even more absurd is how they spent the stolen money. We're talking luxury cars, private jets, lavish parties in Dubai, villas with shark tanks, and literal boxes full of cash. It’s like they stepped straight out of a Hollywood movie. The operation was based in Dubai, but they transferred part of the loot to Austria.

Regarding the convictions, the Klagenfurt Regional Court didn’t hold back: two defendants received five years, two others 30 months with 21 months suspended, and another 18 months suspended. Interestingly, Benjamin Herzog and Pirmin Troger, two of the co-founders, had already pleaded guilty in September 2023 and each received five years in prison. The third co-founder, Manuel Batista, remains at large.

But here’s the part that really worries me: these fraud cases are becoming more and more common. In 2023 alone, crypto scams caused losses of over $5.6 billion, a 45% increase compared to the previous year. Just days after the Austrian verdict, a trial was launched in France against 20 people for a $30 million scam. In the United States, a court ordered a Ponzi scheme promoter to pay $3.6 million in damages and serve 240 months. In Ireland, 45% of investment fraud cases now involve cryptocurrencies.

The scammers aren’t slowing down, actually. They continue to exploit the allure of high returns and the complexity of blockchain to deceive investors. Fake projects, Ponzi schemes, misleading tokens — it’s become a real game. Authorities are trying to ramp up enforcement, but clearly, it’s not enough.