Wybbo Wiersman was jailed for stealing £2 million in cryptocurrency in Oxford.
Wiersman, 40, was sentenced to four years and six months at Oxford Crown Court after being arrested in 2019 and pleaded guilty on the second day of court proceedings.
According to police testimony, some of the victims of his crimes lost their life savings and companies.
The investigation – which found more than 100 possible international victims and involved state police in Hesse and Europol – led to detectives finding computers, drugs and money in a police raid in January 2019, which followed reports the following year of IOTA cryptocurrency tokens going missing, which was controlled by 81- character code.
Police claimed that Wybbo operated a website under a fake name to create the codes and take ownership of the tokens.
According to South East Regional Organised Crime United, he stole more than £2 156 000.
Detective Inspector Rob Bryant said: “This was a particularly complex investigation involving more than 100 victims worldwide.
“Wiersma deprived people of their money which they had invested in cryptocurrency, moving it through a web of trading accounts and causing some to lose businesses and life savings.
“We will make every effort to ensure that the victims of the offence are reunited with the funds police seized as part of the investigation.”
After he was arrested, Wybbo relocated to the Netherlands – where he is originally from – but was extradited back in the UK in 2021.