Malone Lam stands at a nightclub holding stacks of cash. (AP)
Malone Lam stands at a nightclub holding stacks of cash. (AP)

A 22-year-old Singaporean man identified as the mastermind behind the largest bitcoin theft in US history has pleaded guilty in court.

According to CNN and NBC on Thursday, Malone Lam pleaded guilty Tuesday (local time) in the US District Court for the District of Columbia. He admitted to a charge of conspiracy under organized crime racketeering statutes. The US Department of Justice said Lam led an international cybercrime organization that stole and laundered $245 million worth of virtual assets.

Lam, who dropped out of middle school in Singapore before moving to the United States, built the network with peers he met through an online gaming platform. Prosecutors said he ran the organization, choosing targets and coordinating the roles of his accomplices. The group operated from October 2023 to at least May 2025.

In August 2024, Lam and his associates posed as employees of Google and the Gemini cryptocurrency exchange to approach a Washington resident. They falsely claimed there had been an unauthorized attempt to access the person's accounts. Through this ploy, they gained access to the victim's computer, Google Drive and the private keys to a bitcoin wallet. They made off with roughly 4,100 bitcoin — worth more than $230 million at the time.

After the theft, the group split their time between Los Angeles and Miami, spending lavishly. According to the FBI, Lam bought more than 30 supercars, including Porsches, Lamborghinis and Ferraris, and wore a $2 million watch. He lived in a luxury home in Miami and used a private jet. At a Los Angeles nightclub, he once ran up a $569,000 bar tab in a single night. He also handed out Hermes Birkin bags — each worth tens of thousands of dollars — to partygoers.

That day, Lam claimed he had personally bought most of the vehicles but not all of them. The federal judge then asked him if he could recall which cars he had actually purchased himself.

A total of 18 people have been indicted in the case, and Lam has pleaded guilty. He faces up to 20 years in prison. No sentencing date has been set, and the next hearing is scheduled for Dec. 8.

Jeanine Ferris Pirro, US attorney for the District of Columbia, said, "If you build a cybercrime empire, we will find you, dismantle your organization and hold you accountable."


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