A crypto pyramid scheme for casino games in Connecticut.

[Finebone]

If you're wondering whether a crypto pyramid scheme designed for casino games could exist, I can give you a relatively recent example from early 2026.

https://www.ctinsider.com/news/article/ct-crypto-fraud-elmin-redzepagic-wolcott-scsu-21352180.php

With what is stated in the article, like the whole details of the news, it was an outright scam, not anything related to crypto pyramid scheme as proclaimed by the op.

Crypto pyramid scheme is just like what most users have already explained here where it's just like a ponzi scheme, but you need to bring someone that also risk his own crypto before you can be paid, but what he did was taking people's money, with the promise of investing it, and make profit that will be shared accordingly, while he was actually using it to gamble instead, which did not later ends well in the end. So this is an outright scam, not a crypto pyramid scheme as the op thought.

[coinlary]

From what you explained, it doesn't look like a crypto pyramid scheme designed for casino games.

Agreed that it is a pyramid scheme and just like every other pyramid scheme, they try to convince people on investing specific amounts to earn returns accordingly but the organiser/ owner of the pyramid scheme can choose to do anything with the money gather  from such people, they can even decide to just hold the crypto and keep on using part as return payments  promised to the investors till they get enough to wind-up their operation.

In this case, they choose to gamble part of it.

[fighter2627]

Is life in Connecticut hard? It seems hard to believe that a 24yrs old student was able to run away with 1 million dollars of money from people who trusted him. From what he did,
it is clear that the kid has an addiction.

Fortunately, the authorities immediately arrested him, but it is unlikely that those who got the money will be able to recover the funds used to play gambling.

[Hatchy]

Elmin Redzepagic, a 25-year-old student from Connecticut, organized a crypto Ponzi scheme that collected funds in Bitcoin and used the money to play casino games on the Stake.com platform. He promised investors that he would invest their funds in cryptocurrency and promised high percentage returns.
Elmin made large payments to some of the victims to maintain the illusion of an investment process. There are many details to this story, and you can explore them all yourself.

Isn't that ridiculous? He was able to carry out his Ponzi schemes, only to use the money to gamble at a casino. That must be one of the worst cases of gambling addiction. He might be smart, but we all know that everyone has a weakness.No matter how bad things get, you should never let gambling get to that level. I also have some concerns about the victims because investment scams can easily fool people into believing that they are making money. He took the risk of paying them back at first and building their trust, only to eventually pull the plug and disappear with their money. This type of scam is actually quite common.

[KiaKia]

In this digital space, ignorance is way more expensive than what you can ever imagined, because these scammers, fraudsters or hackers thrive when their victim is ignorant or has less knowledgeable on how they operate.

Another thing that makes even the experience crypto enthusiastic falls victim to things like this is greed, because once anyone comes with a proposal that is just too good, their greed will not let them think, they will just jump into it, and when they have fell victim to it, they starts looking at who or where to push the blame on, but until some of these people learn the hard way, they will not learn their lesson.

You think so? Damn, then the few people have met in my life are all crazy people because who the hell knows that they will likely get scammed and still go ahead with it? Aren't they supposed to turn away immediately?

I am not going to take people's side on this one, some people want that too good to be true investment, people likes taking alot of risks and that's why scams like this will always work.

Let me ask you this, why are scams like this still flourishing till date? Someone who made profits from Ponzi schemes right now will always look out for another, or probably initiate his family too, I've seen a lot..

[Findingnemo]

If you're wondering whether a crypto pyramid scheme designed for casino games could exist, I can give you a relatively recent example from early 2026.

https://www.ctinsider.com/news/article/ct-crypto-fraud-elmin-redzepagic-wolcott-scsu-21352180.php


Elmin Redzepagic, a 25-year-old student from Connecticut, organized a crypto Ponzi scheme that collected funds in Bitcoin and used the money to play casino games on the Stake.com platform. He promised investors that he would invest their funds in cryptocurrency and promised high percentage returns.
Elmin made large payments to some of the victims to maintain the illusion of an investment process. There are many details to this story, and you can explore them all yourself.

The victims or should we call them stupid? And what exactly the individual proposed to attract the investors I mean what kind of investment model other than just saying if you give me $100 then I will double it the next month or even a year is too good to be true. And stake can't possibly know what really happened so we should keep the casino name out and now to the scammer, he should face the legal consequences.

[Perfectbaby]

One thing about these sites that offers higher percentage of return as an investment platform is the thing I do avoid always because, if you keep following them and be discussing about scheme one may end up getting hypnotized by them as they always tends to make everything looks so real. In fact, to some extent they may pay back their earlier investor just to make they used their initial deposit and profits to reinvest again. By then they would also involved more people by telling their friends that the platform is real, then after you would often or quickly see them strike and made away with their money.

[sompitonov]

One thing about these sites that offers higher percentage of return as an investment platform is the thing I do avoid always because, if you keep following them and be discussing about scheme one may end up getting hypnotized by them as they always tends to make everything looks so real. In fact, to some extent they may pay back their earlier investor just to make they used their initial deposit and profits to reinvest again. By then they would also involved more people by telling their friends that the platform is real, then after you would often or quickly see them strike and made away with their money.

I believe that today, scammers can disguise any activity as something else, all with the ultimate goal of deceiving everyone and withholding their money. This isn’t limited to fake casinos they devise all sorts of schemes ranging from straightforward fraud to complex, multi-layered deception strategies. Judging by recent news, even people who were certain they would never fall for such tricks end up getting caught. It’s best not to be overconfident instead, remain calm and approach messages from strangers especially those sent via private channels with a healthy dose of skepticism.

[Perfectbaby]

One thing about these sites that offers higher percentage of return as an investment platform is the thing I do avoid always because, if you keep following them and be discussing about scheme one may end up getting hypnotized by them as they always tends to make everything looks so real. In fact, to some extent they may pay back their earlier investor just to make they used their initial deposit and profits to reinvest again. By then they would also involved more people by telling their friends that the platform is real, then after you would often or quickly see them strike and made away with their money.

I believe that today, scammers can disguise any activity as something else, all with the ultimate goal of deceiving everyone and withholding their money. This isn’t limited to fake casinos they devise all sorts of schemes ranging from straightforward fraud to complex, multi-layered deception strategies. Judging by recent news, even people who were certain they would never fall for such tricks end up getting caught. It’s best not to be overconfident instead, remain calm and approach messages from strangers especially those sent via private channels with a healthy dose of skepticism.

I do not give room to such because when you keep listening the more you got attracted by their preaching, especially for those who always have higher interest of earning while they are sleeping. Scammer has always used these words to lure thousands of people into believing them and their site.
Thank God for this community today, were we do get drivers knowledge from different people around here, to honest, this community has already shapen my skills and sense of reasoning to quickly know when scammers are to launch attack to the community or sites that looks so phishing.

[Queen uloma]

In this digital space, ignorance is way more expensive than what you can ever imagined, because these scammers, fraudsters or hackers thrive when their victim is ignorant or has less knowledgeable on how they operate.

Another thing that makes even the experience crypto enthusiastic falls victim to things like this is greed, because once anyone comes with a proposal that is just too good, their greed will not let them think, they will just jump into it, and when they have fell victim to it, they starts looking at who or where to push the blame on, but until some of these people learn the hard way, they will not learn their lesson.

You’re very correct in crypto space ignorance and greed are two major things that make people to fall victim to scammers. Imagine seeing an opportunity that promises quick return or huge profits, you might even forget to think properly before jumping into it.

That’s why it’s very important to always do your own research and don’t let greed blind you, prevention is better than to lose money before we learn lesson.  Some people hardly learn lessons until they have witnessed a bad results.

[Patikno]

If you're wondering whether a crypto pyramid scheme designed for casino games could exist, I can give you a relatively recent example from early 2026.

https://www.ctinsider.com/news/article/ct-crypto-fraud-elmin-redzepagic-wolcott-scsu-21352180.php


Elmin Redzepagic, a 25-year-old student from Connecticut, organized a crypto Ponzi scheme that collected funds in Bitcoin and used the money to play casino games on the Stake.com platform. He promised investors that he would invest their funds in cryptocurrency and promised high percentage returns.
Elmin made large payments to some of the victims to maintain the illusion of an investment process. There are many details to this story, and you can explore them all yourself.

Another important lesson we can learn from this story is not to trust things that seem overly enticing. Generally, most things that appear "Too Good to be True" are scams, especially when they involve your money. Therefore, try not to be too quick to entrust your funds to others. It should be better to put your money into things you already understand, and to invest only in ventures that make logical sense. For example, investing in Bitcoin, where you retain full personal control rather than handing that control over to someone else.

Furthermore, the risks involved in entrusting your money to others include the possibility of fraud (resulting in the total loss of your funds), or the misuse of your capital, which only further increases the level of risk.

For some reason, I have always felt uneasy or skeptical toward fundraising efforts for investments that promise extraordinary returns. After all, if such opportunities were truly legitimate, wouldn't the people behind them just keep them to themselves, and pursue them quietly ?

[Oasisman]

Is life in Connecticut hard? It seems hard to believe that a 24yrs old student was able to run away with 1 million dollars of money from people who trusted him. From what he did,
it is clear that the kid has an addiction.

I think the word here is not "hard", but "greed". People who usually fall for this are those who wants easy money. I don't know why there are still a lot of people who can't determine a very obvious red flag that scammers uses all the time, promising a fixed high return that something they can't even clearly explain how things worked and why the promised returns are high.
Those who live a "hard" life are very cautious with their money, not all, but most of them are.

Well, this is just one of the bad things about compulsive gambling habits. When they run out of funds, it's either they rob or scam people.

[TheUltraElite]

One thing about these sites that offers higher percentage of return as an investment platform is the thing I do avoid always because, if you keep following them and be discussing about scheme one may end up getting hypnotized by them as they always tends to make everything looks so real.

This case it was a player asking for deposits, in other words a player asking for sponsorships to their own betting, in better semantics to cover up the raw scammy part of it.

Previously people would use websites as a face of the project to gather the money. Even then the people who used to get scammed by this were the same. Put a person to be the face of the scam, what is the difference? Nobody can legally prove that the person took their money and nothing will come out of it once the scam completes.

This might get into the news but majority dont because the small group of people forming the pyramid are more common in this type of troupes.

[uchegod-21]

What is it with people being so confident in gambling that they are so willing to gamble with huge amount of money that are not theirs, but money entrusted in their hands? Just recently I heard a similar story of a Personal Assistant who used a huge amount of money meant for his boss to gamble and he lost everything. Whatever anyone is going to call this; whether a fraud, scam or pyramid scheme,  it does reduce the consequence of these reckless action taken.


...And, to those who are still comfortable patronizing ponzi schemes in 2026, I feel no sorry for them. They should be feeling sorry for themselves, for letting greed influence them so badly. Goodluck to them on their journey to recovering their money. I.e if they will.

[davis196]

If you're wondering whether a crypto pyramid scheme designed for casino games could exist, I can give you a relatively recent example from early 2026.

https://www.ctinsider.com/news/article/ct-crypto-fraud-elmin-redzepagic-wolcott-scsu-21352180.php


Elmin Redzepagic, a 25-year-old student from Connecticut, organized a crypto Ponzi scheme that collected funds in Bitcoin and used the money to play casino games on the Stake.com platform. He promised investors that he would invest their funds in cryptocurrency and promised high percentage returns.
Elmin made large payments to some of the victims to maintain the illusion of an investment process. There are many details to this story, and you can explore them all yourself.

A gambling addict had made a ponzi or "investment" scheme just to obtain crypto, which he used to feed his gambling addiction. Nothing new.
We've heard lots of stories about gambling addicts creating various scams and schemes, just to gather lots of money and feed their addiction.
I wonder who his investors were, since their names aren't disclosed by the authorities. Who would trust a young college student? How did he convince his investors, that he is some kind of "financial crypto genius" capable of generating insane profits and annual returns? Lots of "dumb money" and gullible people are still living inside the shady parts of the crypto world(which attracts more scammers).

[leea-1334]

Nobody ever wondered about that  

I guess you missed the whole early forum time when these pure pyramid schemes were flooding on the forum on 'Investor Based Games' and on ads,,, you could even find PTC sites all showing them, and 'live' stats of investors  

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?board=207.0

[BigTarget]

organized a crypto Ponzi scheme that collected funds in Bitcoin and used the money to play casino games on the Stake.com platform. He promised investors that he would invest their funds in cryptocurrency and promised high percentage returns.

I just wonder that there are people still exist to believe into high returns from an internet stranger or even from a known colleague or friend? Either they do not have access to internet especially youtube or they never heard of cryptocurrencies or some alien thing played here? I just wonder about the possibility. I have been reading about pyramid scheme kind of fraudulent tricks for more than a decade and even Amway kind of networking business are not having enough reputation in the place, I am living.

Elmin made large payments to some of the victims to maintain the illusion of an investment process.

This is the classic method to lure new investors whereas casinos are still doing that with insider players and the Irony here is he collected funds to lose in gambling. Yeah, gambling addiction may trigger you to do whatever you even could not imagine.

[Hispo]

This may be one of the most blatant examples of greed in action, in my opinion.

That young man felt greed and wanted to others money in order to fund his gambling sessions.
On the other hand, we have people who had heard about Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies and felt like giving their money to someone random in order to invest their capital, when they could have accessed to a exchange themselves, instead of trusting a gambler.

That guy is going to do a long time in prison because of this.
Let this be just another lesson on why greed is bad in general.

[Die_empty]

From what you explained, it doesn't look like a crypto pyramid scheme designed for casino games.

Agreed that it is a pyramid scheme and just like every other pyramid scheme, they try to convince people on investing specific amounts to earn returns accordingly but the organiser/ owner of the pyramid scheme can choose to do anything with the money gather  from such people, they can even decide to just hold the crypto and keep on using part as return payments  promised to the investors till they get enough to wind-up their operation.

In this case, they choose to gamble part of it.

It is not the case of designing a pyramid scheme like a gambling platform. Rather, it is the case of a scammer who is running a pyramid scheme and using the money to feed his gambling addiction. He simply deceived people into believing that he was making money from their deposits. Meanwhile, he was using their money to gamble.

Sadly, at this time, people are still falling prey to Ponzi operators. When people are driven by greed and impatience, they can easily be scammed. The scammer would have to see a psychiatrist to control his addictive behavior. And he might end up paying back all he has stolen and spending some time in jail.

[Emitdama]

I can’t understand what he was counting on. Did he really think he could win at the casino and pay investors interest on their investments with those winnings? That sounds completely unrealistic. It’s not just unlikely to work, it’s practically impossible to pull off in real life.

Money must be the ones that he was counting .

But if you mean to say what he was thinking of, I would say it was still the money. It also possible that he is only gambling for fun. The scheme he was running at, is already shady at the first place. So even if he lose all the money from playing gambling, it is only fine on his side. On the side of the investor, they must be aware about the risk they are facing too, by the time the guy promised them to invest their money in crypto and expect high percentage returns. Even not gambling, the guy may still choose high risk coins. That is not different to gambling. I'd rather invest on my own.

Yes. Greedy gamblers think they can beat the casino. It was true anyway on some occasions or if our luck kicks in.

It is even said that:

Elmin made large payments to some of the victims to maintain the illusion of an investment process