Taiwan’s Shilin District Court has sentenced the man behind the BitShine crypto exchange, identified by the surname Shih, to 22 years in prison for running a large-scale fraud and money-laundering operation disguised as a legitimate exchange.
The network worked with fraud syndicates and individuals linked to the Thento Union, one of Taiwan’s largest organised crime groups.
Between January 2024 and April 2025, more than NT$2.3 billion, roughly $71 million, was allegedly laundered through BitShine.
Prosecutors identified 1,539 victims who lost more than NT$1.27 billion, or around $39 million.
Their cash was converted into Tether’s USDT and transferred overseas.
BitShine had previously been registered with Taiwan’s Financial Supervisory Commission, giving the operation a legitimate appearance.
Shih reportedly hired compliance employees who did not know about the scheme to build KYC procedures, while intermediaries coached fraud-ring members on how to answer the verification questions and push victims through onboarding.
Authorities indicted Shih and 13 other suspects in August 2025. Prosecutors requested a 25-year sentence, but the court imposed 22 years.
The case also lands just weeks after Taiwan’s Legislative Yuan passed the Virtual Asset Service Act on June 30, replacing basic anti-money-laundering registration with mandatory FSC licensing for exchanges, custodians, lenders, transfer services and stablecoin issuers.
The uncomfortable lesson is familiar: registration, KYC pages and compliance staff mean very little when the business behind them is controlled by criminals who understand exactly how to manufacture legitimacy.
Greetings to @cz
