In mid-September, HALO’s HUMINT team identified a Michael Sonnenshein impersonator account on Telegram, using the handle @Agent_Micheal_Sonnenshein. This user claimed they were associated with Grayscale Investments and offered Bitcoin trading plans with returns of 3x or more. The impersonator also provided a link to a private Telegram channel called ‘Grayscale Bitcoin Trading’ (https://t.me/joinchat/GVW3LudSr6lhNmYQ) promoting cryptocurrency investment; this group was created on 6 September 2021 and currently has 287 members.

Additionally, the Investigator observed an admin user with the name Derrick Hendricks adding new members to this chat group. We assess this individual may be the creator of the ‘Grayscale Bitcoin Trading’ channel and the true individual running the @Agent_Micheal_Sonnenshein account. Derrick Hendricks appears to be a South African national, employed as a land surveyor assistant at a professional land surveying company in Cape Town.