tl;dr
The U.S. is set to release a crypto criminal, Alexander Vinnik, as part of a prisoner swap with Russia. Vinnik, who ran the BTC-e Bitcoin exchange shut down by the FBI in 2017 for alleged money laundering, will be released after Moscow freed an American, Marc Fogel. Vinnik had pleaded guilty to cons...
The U.S. is set to release a cryptocurrency criminal, Alexander Vinnik, in a prisoner swap with Russia. Vinnik, associated with the BTC-e Bitcoin exchange shutdown for alleged money laundering, will be freed after Moscow released American Marc Fogel. Vinnik had pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit money laundering.
BTC-e facilitated approximately $9 billion in Bitcoin transactions from 2011 to 2017, enabling anonymous trading for criminals and money laundering. Vinnik was also connected to Alexey Bilyuchenko, charged in 2023 with the Mt. Gox hack. Fogel, serving a 14-year sentence for drug smuggling, was released as part of the swap.
Reports from Reuters and the Wall Street Journal indicate that the U.S. will release a crypto criminal as part of the swap. Alexander Vinnik, who operated BTC-e, a Bitcoin exchange shut down by the FBI in 2017 for alleged money laundering, will reportedly be released on Wednesday after Moscow freed American Marc Fogel on Tuesday. Vinnick last year pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit money laundering. BTC-e was a crypto exchange that handled an estimated $9 billion in Bitcoin transactions from 2011 to 2017, allowing criminals to trade Bitcoin anonymously and launder funds. Vinnick also worked with Alexey Bilyuchenko, who was charged in 2023 with the infamous Mt. Gox hack. Fogel, 63, arrived in the U.S. yesterday as part of the prisoner swap. He had been serving a 14-year sentence for drug smuggling after being caught at a Moscow airport in 2021 with medical marijuana.