Crypto-888-Club: Ten years until conviction – What the case reveals about international MLM crypto schemes

From crypto investment to criminal trial

In the mid-2010s, the Crypto-888 Club appeared on the internet as a supposedly innovative investment project in the crypto sector. Participants were supposed to acquire cryptocurrencies, buy so-called “mining packages,” and recruit new members via a network model.

The promises sounded familiar: high returns, automated profits, and a rapidly growing international network.

Almost a decade later, however, the project ended in court. Norwegian courts sentenced several key figures to long prison terms – a case that exemplifies how long it can take for international MLM crypto schemes to be legally prosecuted.

The minds behind the Crypto-888 Club

Among the key figures was Terje Hvidsten , who operated within the system under the alias “Aleksander Romanov”. The business model followed the typical pattern of many MLM investment programs: starter packages, commissions for recruited participants, and alleged profits from cryptocurrencies.

In the end, however, there were no trading successes, but rather prison sentences. The Norwegian court imposed, among other things:

• Terje Hvidsten (63 ) – 11 years in prison and confiscation of approximately 11.1 million NOK
• Dag Haetta Eriksen (54 ) – 9 years imprisonment and confiscation of approximately 25.4 million NOK
• Pal Andre Borsting Berntsen (53 ) – 6 years imprisonment and confiscation of approximately 17.8 million NOK.

This resulted in the conviction of a network that had operated internationally for years.

Internationally organized – international victims

The Crypto-888 Club was not a local project, but an internationally organized MLM system with investors from countries including China, Belgium, Sweden, and the Netherlands. Marketing, operations, and payment structures were spread across multiple countries – a typical pattern for global MLM programs.

The infrastructure was also internationally structured: investigators uncovered company structures in Hong Kong, offshore accounts, cryptocurrency payments, and international distribution networks. This structure significantly hampered prosecution.

The investigations were therefore not limited to Norway: One promoter was convicted in Sweden, and another person involved was later arrested in Spain.

An early prototype of the European crypto-MLM scene

The Crypto-888 Club emerged in the early stages of the crypto market, when regulatory structures were virtually nonexistent. Between 2014 and 2017, a first generation of European crypto MLM programs developed, combining cryptocurrencies as an investment narrative with classic MLM sales models and digital payment methods outside the banking system.

Why investigations against MLM promoters often take years

The Crypto-888 case illustrates a structural problem with international MLM schemes: Criminal investigations often only begin years after a system collapses. Promoters often later argue that they were merely participants and only engaged in marketing.

Whether someone was actually a co-organizer of a system often requires extensive investigations to determine. International corporate structures, offshore accounts, and cryptocurrency payments further lengthen such proceedings.