"This is where greed gets you," says Canberra-born crypto fraudster Stefan Qin in a tell-all video released in advance of his seven-year prison sentence in New York City for stealing $US90 million from Australian and US investors.
On Friday night, a media organisation that interviewed Qin three days before he began his sentence released a YouTube video that shows viewers around his $US24,500-a-month penthouse with towering views of the metropolis.
In September, Qin was charged with one count of securities fraud after a US court found him guilty of intentionally misleading investors and falsifying account statements connected to his cryptocurrency arbitrage fund, Virgil Sigma Fund.
He was sentenced to 712 years in federal prison, followed by three years on supervised release.
Qin is shown boxing in the video, which he claims he is learning so that he can defend himself in prison.
Qin describes the extreme bullying and harassment he endured at the hands of his classmates in Canberra in a wide-ranging and candid interview.
"That led to some tremendous despair and suicidal tendencies from year seven and eight on," he adds, adding that this was exacerbated by a "great insecurity in the Asian community to to be as successful as possible at all costs."
"It's not even about making money; it's about looking good." Later on, that manifested itself in the worst way conceivable, where I would simply keep raising money... and in the back of my mind, I'd be thinking, 'stuff you, I'm more successful than you now.' 'Please come and work for me.' That's exactly what I'd tell my inner bullies."
Qin dropped out of UNSW in 2016, relocated to China, became involved in crypto arbitrage (investors take advantage of bitcoin price variations on different crypto exchanges), and established Virgil Capital, a hedge fund.
Qin discusses about losing his virginity in 2017 to a female he was "madly in love with [who] cheated on me with some guy who was richer than I was."
Throughout the film, Qin discusses the dissolution of his relationship and how it fueled much of his mental turmoil, driving him to appear more and more successful.
Qin was left with complete management of Virgil Capital following a disagreement with the fund's co-founders.
"It's a formula for catastrophe when you're 21 and suddenly have access to all these bank accounts," he says.
Qin, who shopped the arbitrage fund across Australia and the United States, claims it had $2 million invested when the Wall Street Journal dubbed him the "bitcoin wunderkind" in 2018.
He raised another $45 million within 15 to 16 days of the story breaking, and another $20 million the following month.
"All of a sudden, we had more than $60 million and no means to put it to use."
Qin was interviewed by CNBC about his popular fund at the time, and he advised viewers to search for market possibilities in Western and Eastern markets.
"A professional hedge fund manager would never throw away their competitive prospects in that manner," he adds in the tell-all video.
"I was fine with giving it up since, despite what I claimed, I wasn't actually trading them." "Everything was a hoax."
'That was my biggest mistake,' he says.
Qin laments his lack of material belongings while spending a large portion of his money on sugar babies, or young ladies in need of financial assistance who partner with a wealthy guy in exchange for affection.
"At least with vehicles and stuff, you can sell them," he explains. "How do I recover money from sugar babies?"
Qin, who deceived to investors about the fund's performance month after month, was eventually charged with one count of securities fraud, which he claims might have been far worse.
"In fact," he argues, "if they knew the full amount, the hundred-plus million figure, it would be a totally different situation." "Because $100 million is a lot more than $90 million."
The video is called The 24-Year-Old Crypto Crook Who Ran a $140 Million Ponzi Scheme.
Qin remembers the SEC coming in to register his valuable belongings, including a collection of Magic: The Gathering cards worth at least "a couple hundred thousand dollars," as he walks through the sprawling three-bedroom residence.
"By the time they arrived, I'd already realised that none of this belonged to me.
"The difference between this and the money in the bank accounts is that it's lot more genuine seeing someone come and stealing items, as opposed to freezing your bank accounts."
'I messed around all day playing video games.'
According to Qin, Virgil Capital eventually failed not due to irate investors, but because he "mucked around all day playing video games."
Employees of the fund eventually joined together and exposed Qin, who was transferring money between accounts to conceal the fund's underperformance. "They banded together against me and created a cabal."
When the SEC investigation into Qin and his company was publicised in December 2020, Qin described himself as sitting in an upscale hotel room in Korea, with a "sugar baby" in the next room.
When he begged her to remain an extra day and she demanded more money, he claims it was the lowest time in his life.
Despite holding 200 bitcoins in his wallet, which were worth between $4 million and $5 million at the time, Qin surrendered to authorities within two days.
"I had the option of fleeing," he admits. "I had plastic surgery on my face, got a new passport, and lived for a while on 200 bitcoins."
Qin claims his behaviour is deplorable as he sits at a table in the apartment where night has fallen.
"None of this is the fault of investors, and I elected to go down that road, but I felt enormous pressure to exaggerate the return and just lie because I wanted to match the expectation," he adds of his "wunderkind" status.
"No one grows up thinking, hey, I'd want to steal $100 million."
Qin concludes the video by stating that he owes society a large debt. In prison, he intends to write a book and eventually run for office in Australia.
