Former CEO of Hydrogen Technology Corporation, Michael Kane, has been sentenced to 45 months in prison for securities fraud linked to a cryptocurrency price manipulation scheme. Shane Hampton, the company's ex-Head of Financial Engineering, received a 35-month sentence for similar crimes. This marks the first time a federal criminal trial jury has classified a cryptocurrency as a security and deemed its price manipulation as securities fraud. The SEC filed a lawsuit against Kane and Hydrogen Technology in 2022, alleging a scheme manipulating the volume and price of the company's Hydro token.