A resident of Austin, Texas, was sentenced to two years in prison for filing a false tax return in which he underreported income from the sale of bitcoins totaling $4 million.

Algren was one of the early investors in bitcoin and purchased 1,366 BTC in 2015 on the Coinbase exchange for $495 per coin. In October 2017, he sold 640 BTC at an average price of $5,807 per bitcoin, receiving $3.7 million, and used these funds to buy a home in Park City, Utah.

When preparing his tax return for 2017, Algren provided his accountant with false income data, claiming that he bought bitcoins at prices significantly higher than the actual ones, thereby reducing his taxable income.

In 2018 and 2019, Algren sold bitcoins again totaling $65,000, but did not declare this at all.

To hide transactions and his address, Algren moved cryptocurrency through numerous wallets, exchanged bitcoins for cash in person, and used crypto mixers that add anonymity to transactions.

In his 2014 blog, Algren wrote about knowledge of mixers and their ability to erase traces.

As a result of his actions, tax losses totaling over $1 million were incurred.