On October 2nd, according to Yunnan Legal News, in February 2023, seven defendants jointly conspired to build an online platform for investing in virtual currency. After reaching an agreement, they contacted a company in Sichuan and had technicians develop the "3M Platform" to issue a token called "Mafuro Coin." They lured investors into the project by promising high returns on investment in virtual currency.

After the platform was built and operational, the seven defendants actively promoted the platform's high-profit potential, both online and offline, developing downlines. Their downlines further recruited other downlines.

It was determined that a total of 375 users had three or more layers of downlines (including three layers) and a total of 30 or more downlines (including 30). The seven defendants made profits ranging from 4,300 yuan to 20,000 yuan.

After trial, the Xichou County People's Court found that the seven defendants had used the "3M Platform" to issue virtual currency and lured investors into the platform by promising high profits from investing in virtual currency. They organized a hierarchical structure based on a specific sequence, using the number of people they recruited as a basis for reward and profit. Their actions constituted the crime of organizing and leading pyramid schemes.

Based on the defendants' roles in the crime, the number of levels they developed, their guilty pleas and acceptance of punishment, the amount of money they refunded, and other sentencing factors, they were sentenced to prison terms ranging from two years and six months to one year and six months, with probation, and fined.