A Taiwanese court just handed down one of the harshest sentences in the country’s crypto enforcement history. Shi Qiren, the man behind the BitShine operation, will spend 22 years in prison for orchestrating a sprawling fraud and money laundering scheme that victimized more than 1,500 people.
The Shilin District Court convicted Shi on 485 counts related to aggravated fraud and money laundering. Prosecutors had actually pushed for 25 years, so you could argue he caught a break.
How BitShine actually worked
The operation ran under two names: BitShine and BiXiang, both fronts for a company called Bixiang Technology. Between January 2024 and April 2025, Shi’s outfit operated 45 physical storefronts scattered across Taiwan. The stores recruited individuals to purchase crypto tokens using cash. The operation then used USDT transfers to obscure where the money was going.
The total damage was substantial. The scheme laundered over NT$2.3 billion, roughly $75 million, through its network. Illicit profits hit approximately NT$1.27 billion, or about $41 million.
