Dubai’s Billion-Dollar Crypto Underworld (Correct)

Video Description

(Corrects video originally published March 10 to remove mischaracterization of Dubai-based crypto entrepreneur.) In early 2024, the US charged Sam Lee with running a Ponzi and pyramid scheme called HyperVerse, alleging he defrauded people of $2 billion. But instead of facing trial in the US, Lee now lives in Dubai, where he’s pitching new crypto products. Lee denies any wrongdoing. But crypto industry experts alleged victims and online “scam hunters” are raising questions about whether regulators in the United Arab Emirates are doing enough to combat crypto fraud as Dubai seeks to position itself as a hub of finance and technology. On a scorching July day in Dubai, Sam Lee was inside a climate-controlled wine bar, sipping a glass of chilled red, looking untouchable. Near the beginning of the year, US authorities announced that they’d charged Lee with conspiracy to commit securities fraud and wire fraud. They alleged that, as the co-founder of a company called HyperVerse, he’d orchestrated a cryptocurrency scam that bilked investors around the world for almost $2 billion. HyperVerse had promised returns as high as 1% a day via cutting-edge blockchain-based strategies, but according to the US Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission, it was just an old-fashioned Ponzi scheme. Lee has denied wrongdoing. 0:00 The two sides of Sam Lee 2:06 HyperVerse’s collapse 5:58 The Crypto Ponzi Scheme Avenger 9:10 Dubai’s crypto underworld 12:59 Detained in Dubai -------- Like this video? Subscribe: http://www.youtube.com/Bloomberg?sub_confirmation=1 Get unlimited access to Bloomberg.com for just $1.99 your first month: https://www.bloomberg.com/subscriptions?in_source=YoutubeOriginals Bloomberg Originals offers bold takes for curious minds on today’s biggest topics. Hosted by experts covering stories you haven’t seen and viewpoints you haven’t heard, you’ll discover cinematic, data-led shows that investigate the intersection of business and culture. Exploring every angle of climate change, technology, finance, sports and beyond, Bloomberg Originals is business as you’ve never seen it. Subscribe for business news, but not as you've known it: exclusive interviews, fascinating profiles, data-driven analysis, and the latest in tech innovation from around the world. Visit our partner channel Bloomberg News for global news and insight in an instant.