Crypto Crash Turns $35M Secret Investment Into Near-Total Loss

[nihalsari]

The downfall of a hidden cryptocurrency investment scheme has led to prison time for former CFO Nevin Shetty, who secretly moved $35 million from a startup to fund his own crypto venture. The case, prosecuted by the U.S. Department of Justice, revealed that the money was placed into high-yield DeFi lending platforms through Shetty’s side project, HighTower Treasury.

The strategy quickly unraveled when the broader crypto market crashed after the collapse of the Terra ecosystem in 2022, leaving the investment nearly worthless. Shetty was indicted in 2023 and convicted in 2025, receiving a two-year prison sentence along with an order to repay the stolen funds. The case comes amid continued scrutiny of crypto-related financial crimes following the high-profile conviction of Sam Bankman-Fried, the former CEO of FTX.

[ed]

secretly moving $35M of company money into DeFi yielding 20%… bro basically ran a corporate degen wallet