Nevin Shetty was convicted of wire fraud in 2022 in connection with secretly transferring $35 million in funds from a Seattle startup to his crypto platform for use in DeFi investments.
A Seattle judge has sentenced the former chief financial officer of a local startup to two years in prison after being found guilty of wire fraud related to a cryptocurrency business.
Nevin Shetty will be sentenced to two years in prison for “secretly transferring approximately $35 million in company funds to a virtual currency platform he managed as a side business,” the U.S. Department of Justice said in a notice Thursday. He moved his funds to the Hightower treasury platform in 2022 before the crypto market downturn, resulting in the transfer being made public.
According to the Justice Department, Shetty transferred funds without the knowledge of executives and board members of Seattle startups and used the funds to invest in “high-yield DeFi lending protocols that promised returns of 20% or more.” He initially earned $133,000 in his first month before the market slowed significantly due to the collapse of the Terra ecosystem.
“The virtual currency investments that Shetty made with the stolen funds quickly began to decline, and by May 13, 2022, the value of the investments was almost zero,” the Justice Department said. “After the $35 million was effectively gone, Shetty told two of his fellow executives what he had done. He was immediately fired.”
Mr. Shetty was indicted on wire fraud charges in May 2023 and convicted on four counts in November 2025 after a nine-day jury trial. He has been ordered to repay the stolen funds and serve three years of supervised release after completing his two-year sentence.
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Former FTX CEO still awaiting appeal
Shetty’s 2022 lawsuit comes months before the collapse of cryptocurrency exchange FTX, which later led to the arrest and conviction of former CEO Sam “SBF” Bankman Fried. SBF was sentenced to 25 years in prison in 2024, but has filed an appeal against the sentence. As of Friday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit had not announced any ruling since hearing arguments in November.
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