BTC-e Operator Alexander Vinnik Pleads Guilty to Money Laundering Charges

[sirty143]

BTC-e Operator Alexander Vinnik Pleads Guilty to Money Laundering Charges

According to a press release from the U.S. Department of Justice, Alexander Vinnik, a former operator of the BTC-e exchange, has admitted to a conspiracy to launder money. This admission of guilt comes over six years following his arrest... See more for yourself here.

Your opinion is greatly appreciated.

[TomPluz]

I can still remember that I once used this BTC-e exchange platform when I was then a newbie in the cryptocurrency industry and then later I just saw in the news that it was confiscated by the US government for operating an alleged international money laundering scheme which has now become the usual charge operators will get when they get into legal battle with the DOJ. In its early years starting in 2011, BTC-e was one of the most known exchanges especially for Bitcoin and I understanding it got a good share of the expanding market back then even if its focus was primarily the Russian market. Now, the big lesson here is never do any business with people of the United States not unless you are allowed to do so, otherwise you would be facing jail time later as shown now with what happened with CZ of Binance. I am wishing Alexander Vinnik and hope he gets a lenient sentencing soon.

[ABCbits]

It's been long time since someone mention BTC-e. I remember it was popular since it doesn't force identity verification. Anyway, it's a shame he actively participate in money laundry rather while in past i thought he arrested due to lack of not forcing identity verification. I also wonder why there's 7 years gap between his arrest and charge.

[yhiaali3]

As I remember BTC-e exchange was the first exchange I used in my life, at that time there were not many exchanges yet and my experience in crypto was little, I am not sure if it is the same exchange because it is very old and closed a long time ago.

It is truly unfortunate what is happening in Crypto. Every day we hear about new accusations of money laundering and the closure of large and old services. The worst thing is that most of the accused admit that they have actually committed these acts. I do not really know where we are heading and what is next.

[Captain Corporate]

Waaaaaaaay too much money laundering news is coming out of crypto these days. I do not think that most of them are actually aware and helping, some might be doing that for sure, but not all. I think it's just the fact that money laundering in the crypto world was a thing already, but the regulations and laws weren't there. Governments didn't really look at it because they thought that crypto was a child thing, like game money, like monopoly money but then suddenly it became this huge trillion dollar market capitalization thing. When they started to take a closer look, they quickly found all of this in a few years.

[Baofeng]

The question is, what kind of plea deal did Vinnik enter with the US government?

Will he be returning Bitcoin to it's customers, or the US did find that he still have some of that stash?

Sweet deal ala CZ with 4 months jail time?