- Dylan Meissner used to work for Delphi Digital, according to court records.
- He pleaded guilty to embezzlement.
- He isn’t the first employee at a crypto company to use his position for illicit profit.
Dylan Meissner, the former vice president of finance at crypto research firm Delphi Digital, was sentenced to four years in prison on Wednesday for embezzlement, according to the Department of Justice.
A Connecticut judge ordered Meissner to pay $4.6 million to Delphi Digital and said his sentence will be followed by two years of supervised release.
The restitution amount included the money he stole and an unpaid loan.
Anil Lulla, co-founder and CEO of Delphi Digital, confirmed to DL News that Meissner had stolen from his company and “generally abused our trust in him as a friend and team member.”
In January 2022, Delphi Digital loaned Meissner 50 Ether, worth now around $192,000.
Meissner said he intended to use the cryptocurrency to avoid a substantial loss he personally incurred through unlucky cryptocurrency investments, according to his plea agreement.
He never repaid the loan, and he proceeded to siphon almost $4.5 million more in additional funds from Delphi, the judgement said.
To cover up his tracks, Meissner created false entries in Delphi Digital’s accounting records and even diverted money intended as bonuses for the company’s analysts, read his plea.
In November 2022, Meissner was fired, and in July 2024, he pleaded guilty to fraud.
‘Company A’
In the Department of Justice’s court submissions and press releases regarding Dylan Meissner, Delphi Digital was referred to as a “cryptocurrency research firm” named “Company A.”
However, in Meissner’s sentencing submission, his lawyer repeatedly said the company from which Meissner stole was “Delphi.”
“We discovered his crimes on the week of the FTX collapse (tough week), immediately terminated his employment, and reported him to the authorities,” Lulla said over Telegram.
Meissner did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
His lawyer, Roger Stavis, declined to comment.
“We want to extend a big thank you to our team who rallied around our common mission and helped us forge forward,” Lulla said. “We’re pleased to see justice finally being served.”
Crypto criminals
This isn’t the first time an employee of a crypto company has used his or her position to illicitly profit.
Nate Chastain, a former employee at the NFT marketplace OpenSea, was sentenced to three months in prison in what the DOJ proclaimed was the first ever case of NFT insider trading.
And Ishan Wahi, a former employee at Coinbase, was sentenced to two years behind bars for tipping off his brother and friend to future cryptocurrency listings.
Ben Weiss is DL News’ Dubai Correspondent and Liam Kelly is a Berlin-based reporter for DL News. Email them at bweiss@dlnews.com and liam@dlnews.com.