The co-founder of Blockparty was arrested on Wednesday for fraud

The background

Last month, the famous crypto exchange FTX filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Following FTXs downfall, BlockFi also declared bankruptcy. The uncertainty in the crypto industry has become serious like never before. The entire crypto world is bearing a cold winter as a series of bad issues took place in the industry recently.

About Blockparty

According to its website, Blockparty was founded in 2017 by Thapa along with Shiv Madan and Vladislav Ginzburg. Headquartered in New Jersey, Blockparty began as a platform for blockchain-based event ticketing, and launched a marketplace for non-fungible tokens or NFTs in 2020, according to the company's website.

NFTs are blockchain-based assets representing a digital file such as an image, video, or item in an online game. They exploded in popularity in 2021, as crypto-rich speculators rushed to cash in on rising prices, but sales volumes have slumped in recent months.

Rikesh Thapa and Fraud Cases

Rikesh Thapa, 28 years old, was the co-founder and chief technology officer of Blockparty. Thapas LinkedIn profile lists himself as a founder and CTO for Blockparty from Oct. 2017 to Dec. 2019. According to Reuters, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI )on Wednesday arrested Rikesh and alleged his crime of stealing 1$ million from a company in Sothern California. The prosecutors claimed that Rikesh Thapa used this money for his personal use.

The prosecutors said in the indictment on Wednesday. Thapa used this money to consume nightclubs, touring, clothing, and other personal expenditure. In addition, Thapa also has been accused of stealing Bitcoin. In order to cover his crime, he was believed to deleted the CEOs email account.

Thapa defended that he used this money for “safekeeping”. However, if convicted of wire fraud, Thapa could face up to 20 years in prison.

Blockparty has enjoyed a decent reputation in the industry. But the current case will undoubtedly have a huge negative impact on the company, which will no doubt make many investors who trade with this company disappointed.

More Thoughts

It is obvious that Thapa detrays the trust of his company and he will pay for what he did. On the other hand, the current cryptocurrency market is still shrouded in shadow, and investors' doubts about crypto exchanges have not gone away. This fraud case has again dealt a heavy blow to the crypto world. WikiFX will keep an eye on the issue, please stay tuned for further information.

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