{"investigation":{"slug":"btc-e","entity_name":"BTC-e","trust_score":2,"severity_base":null,"score_modifier":0,"confidence":0.97,"status":"published","content_type":"investigation","summary":"BTC-e was a cryptocurrency exchange founded in 2011 that operated without KYC or AML controls and processed over $9 billion in transactions for more than one million users worldwide before U.S. law enforcement shut it down in July 2017. The exchange became a primary laundering venue for proceeds from the Mt. Gox hack, ransomware campaigns, dark-web drug markets, and other criminal schemes. Its principal operator, Alexander Vinnik, was arrested in Greece in 2017, convicted in France, extradited to the United States, and ultimately released in a February 2025 prisoner exchange with Russia.","sections":[{"content":"","heading":"Overview and Operations","sources":[{"url":"https://www.fincen.gov/news/news-releases/fincen-fines-btc-e-virtual-currency-exchange-110-million-facilitating-ransomware","name":"FinCEN Fines BTC-e Virtual Currency Exchange $110 Million for Facilitating Ransomware, Dark Net Drug Sales","type":"regulatory","credibility":1},{"url":"https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndca/pr/russian-national-and-bitcoin-exchange-charged-21-count-indictment-operating-alleged","name":"Russian National And Bitcoin Exchange Charged In 21-Count Indictment — DOJ NDCA","type":"court_filing","credibility":1}],"severity":"critical"},{"content":"","heading":"Money Laundering and Criminal Facilitation","sources":[{"url":"https://www.fincen.gov/news/news-releases/fincen-fines-btc-e-virtual-currency-exchange-110-million-facilitating-ransomware","name":"FinCEN Fines BTC-e Virtual Currency Exchange $110 Million for Facilitating Ransomware, Dark Net Drug Sales","type":"regulatory","credibility":1},{"url":"https://www.ice.gov/news/releases/russian-national-and-bitcoin-exchange-indicted-multi-billion-dollar-money-laundering","name":"Russian national and bitcoin exchange indicted in multi-billion dollar money laundering scheme — ICE","type":"regulatory","credibility":1}],"severity":"critical"},{"content":"","heading":"Connection to the Mt. Gox Hack","sources":[{"url":"https://www.coindesk.com/policy/2023/06/09/mt-goxs-hackers-are-2-russian-nationals-us-doj-alleges-in-indictment","name":"Mt. Gox's Hackers Are 2 Russian Nationals, U.S. DOJ Alleges in Indictment — CoinDesk","type":"news_article","credibility":2},{"url":"https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/russian-nationals-charged-hacking-one-cryptocurrency-exchange-and-illicitly-operating","name":"Russian Nationals Charged With Hacking One Cryptocurrency Exchange And Illicitly Operating Another — DOJ SDNY","type":"court_filing","credibility":1},{"url":"https://www.coindesk.com/consensus-magazine/2023/06/09/where-the-mt-gox-money-went-new-details-in-the-btc-e-exchange-case","name":"Where the Mt. Gox Money Went: New Details in the BTC-e Exchange Case — CoinDesk","type":"news_article","credibility":2}],"severity":"critical"},{"content":"","heading":"Law Enforcement Action and Shutdown (2017)","sources":[{"url":"https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndca/pr/russian-national-and-bitcoin-exchange-charged-21-count-indictment-operating-alleged","name":"Russian National And Bitcoin Exchange Charged In 21-Count Indictment — DOJ NDCA","type":"court_filing","credibility":1},{"url":"https://www.fincen.gov/news/news-releases/fincen-fines-btc-e-virtual-currency-exchange-110-million-facilitating-ransomware","name":"FinCEN Fines BTC-e Virtual Currency Exchange $110 Million for Facilitating Ransomware, Dark Net Drug Sales","type":"regulatory","credibility":1},{"url":"https://fortune.com/2017/07/27/btc-e-digital-currency/","name":"Another Black Eye for Bitcoin: Exchange fined $110M for money laundering — Fortune","type":"news_article","credibility":2}],"severity":"critical"},{"content":"","heading":"Alexander Vinnik: Arrest, Extradition, Conviction, and Prisoner Exchange","sources":[{"url":"https://www.coindesk.com/policy/2024/05/03/btc-e-operator-alexander-vinnik-pleads-guilty-to-money-laundering-conspiracy-charge","name":"BTC-e Operator Alexander Vinnik Pleads Guilty to Money Laundering Conspiracy Charge — CoinDesk","type":"news_article","credibility":2},{"url":"https://www.justice.gov/archives/opa/pr/btc-e-operator-pleads-guilty-money-laundering-conspiracy","name":"BTC-e Operator Pleads Guilty to Money Laundering Conspiracy — DOJ OPA","type":"court_filing","credibility":1},{"url":"https://fortune.com/crypto/2025/02/13/who-is-alexander-vinnik-bitcoin-criminal-trump-freed-exchange-russia/","name":"Who is Alexander Vinnik, the Bitcoin criminal Trump freed in a prisoner exchange with Russia? — Fortune","type":"news_article","credibility":2},{"url":"https://www.axios.com/2025/02/12/marc-fogel-russia-prisoner-swap-trump-putin","name":"Russian crypto kingpin Alexander Vinnik returns to Russia in swap for Fogel — Axios","type":"news_article","credibility":2},{"url":"https://www.rferl.org/a/russian-national-vinnik-greece-extradited-united-states-bitcoin/31975304.html","name":"Greece Extradites Russian Suspected In Bitcoin Fraud To U.S. — RFE/RL","type":"news_article","credibility":2}],"severity":"critical"},{"content":"","heading":"WEX: Successor Exchange and Exit Scam","sources":[{"url":"https://meduza.io/en/feature/2019/11/15/crypto-corruption","name":"Crypto-corruption: WEX exchange founder says he transferred funds to the FSB — Meduza","type":"news_article","credibility":2},{"url":"https://www.cryptopolitan.com/russia-to-confiscate-assets-wex-corruption/","name":"Russia moves to confiscate $30M assets in WEX corruption case — Cryptopolitan","type":"news_article","credibility":2},{"url":"https://www.ccn.com/defunct-bitcoin-exchange-wex-formerly-btc-e-chief-arrested-in-italy-bbc/","name":"Defunct Bitcoin Exchange WEX (Formerly BTC-E) Chief Arrested in Italy — CCN","type":"news_article","credibility":2}],"severity":"high"},{"content":"","heading":"Regulatory and Legal Significance","sources":[{"url":"https://www.fincen.gov/news/news-releases/fincen-fines-btc-e-virtual-currency-exchange-110-million-facilitating-ransomware","name":"FinCEN Fines BTC-e Virtual Currency Exchange $110 Million for Facilitating Ransomware, Dark Net Drug Sales","type":"regulatory","credibility":1},{"url":"https://blockonomi.com/u-s-doj-seeks-to-seize-crypto-assets-from-defunct-btc-e-exchange/","name":"U.S. DOJ Seeks to Seize Crypto Assets from Defunct BTC-e Exchange — Blockonomi","type":"news_article","credibility":2},{"url":"https://criminaldefenseattorneytampa.com/asset-seizure-asset-forfeiture/cryptocurrency/btc-e/","name":"Victims of the BTC-e Seizure Filing Claims — Criminal Defense Attorney Tampa","type":"other","credibility":3}],"severity":"high"}],"timeline":[{"date":"2011-07","event":"BTC-e cryptocurrency exchange founded by Alexander Vinnik and Alexey Bilyuchenko.","source":"BTC-e Wikipedia / DOJ Indictment","source_url":"https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndca/pr/russian-national-and-bitcoin-exchange-charged-21-count-indictment-operating-alleged","date_original":"2011-07-01"},{"date":"2011-09","event":"Bilyuchenko, Verner, and co-conspirators allegedly gain unauthorized access to Mt. Gox servers and begin stealing Bitcoin, according to a 2023 DOJ indictment.","source":"DOJ SDNY Indictment (2023)","source_url":"https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/russian-nationals-charged-hacking-one-cryptocurrency-exchange-and-illicitly-operating","date_original":"2011-09-01"},{"date":"2014-02","event":"Mt. Gox collapses and files for bankruptcy after disclosing the loss of approximately 850,000 Bitcoin. More than 300,000 BTC from the theft are later traced to BTC-e.","source":"FinCEN Enforcement Action (2017)","source_url":"https://www.fincen.gov/news/news-releases/fincen-fines-btc-e-virtual-currency-exchange-110-million-facilitating-ransomware","date_original":"2014-02-01"},{"date":"2017-07-25","event":"BTC-e website goes offline. Alexander Vinnik is arrested in Ouranoupoli, Greece at the request of U.S. authorities.","source":"DOJ / ICE Press Release","source_url":"https://www.ice.gov/news/releases/russian-national-and-bitcoin-exchange-indicted-multi-billion-dollar-money-laundering"},{"date":"2017-07-26","event":"DOJ unseals 21-count indictment against Vinnik and BTC-e in the Northern District of California. FinCEN simultaneously levies a $110 million civil money penalty against BTC-e and a $12 million penalty against Vinnik.","source":"DOJ NDCA / FinCEN","source_url":"https://www.fincen.gov/news/news-releases/fincen-fines-btc-e-virtual-currency-exchange-110-million-facilitating-ransomware"},{"date":"2017-09","event":"WEX exchange launches as a successor to BTC-e, promising to compensate former BTC-e users.","source":"BTC-e Wikipedia","source_url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BTC-e","date_original":"2017-09-01"},{"date":"2018-07","event":"WEX exchange ceases operations in an alleged exit scam, disappearing with remaining customer assets.","source":"Meduza / Cryptopolitan","source_url":"https://meduza.io/en/feature/2019/11/15/crypto-corruption","date_original":"2018-07-01"},{"date":"2020","event":"Greece extradites Vinnik to France. He is subsequently convicted of money laundering and sentenced to five years in prison.","source":"Business Standard / RFE/RL","source_url":"https://www.business-standard.com/article/international/btc-e-cryptocurrency-founder-given-a-5-yr-prison-term-for-laundering-funds-120120801037_1.html","date_original":"2020-01-01"},{"date":"2022-08","event":"Vinnik extradited from France to the United States to face the original 2017 federal charges.","source":"CNN Politics","source_url":"https://www.cnn.com/2022/08/04/politics/russian-bitcoin-extradited-us/index.html","date_original":"2022-08-01"},{"date":"2023-06-09","event":"DOJ unseals charges against Russian nationals Alexey Bilyuchenko and Aleksandr Verner for the Mt. Gox hack, alleging Bilyuchenko co-operated BTC-e with Vinnik to launder stolen funds.","source":"DOJ SDNY / CoinDesk","source_url":"https://www.coindesk.com/policy/2023/06/09/mt-goxs-hackers-are-2-russian-nationals-us-doj-alleges-in-indictment"},{"date":"2024-05-03","event":"Vinnik pleads guilty in U.S. federal court to one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering. He agrees to forfeit approximately $100 million in digital assets.","source":"DOJ / CoinDesk","source_url":"https://www.coindesk.com/policy/2024/05/03/btc-e-operator-alexander-vinnik-pleads-guilty-to-money-laundering-conspiracy-charge"},{"date":"2025-02-13","event":"The United States releases Vinnik to Russia in a prisoner exchange for American school teacher Marc Fogel, before Vinnik's U.S. sentencing is completed.","source":"Axios / Fortune / NBC News","source_url":"https://www.axios.com/2025/02/12/marc-fogel-russia-prisoner-swap-trump-putin"},{"date":"2025-06-30","event":"DOJ files a civil asset forfeiture complaint targeting all virtual currency held in BTC-e's operating wallets as of July 25, 2017, plus related fiat accounts in New Zealand, Australia, and the Czech Republic.","source":"Blockonomi / Criminal Defense Attorney Tampa","source_url":"https://blockonomi.com/u-s-doj-seeks-to-seize-crypto-assets-from-defunct-btc-e-exchange/"}],"sources_used":[{"url":"https://www.fincen.gov/news/news-releases/fincen-fines-btc-e-virtual-currency-exchange-110-million-facilitating-ransomware","name":"FinCEN Fines BTC-e Virtual Currency Exchange $110 Million for Facilitating Ransomware, Dark Net Drug Sales","type":"regulatory","archive_url":"http://web.archive.org/web/20260609014324/https://www.fincen.gov/news/news-releases/fincen-fines-btc-e-virtual-currency-exchange-110-million-facilitating-ransomware","credibility":1,"archive_timestamp":"2026-06-09T01:43:24+00:00"},{"url":"https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndca/pr/russian-national-and-bitcoin-exchange-charged-21-count-indictment-operating-alleged","name":"Russian National And Bitcoin Exchange Charged In 21-Count Indictment — DOJ NDCA","type":"court_filing","archive_url":"http://web.archive.org/web/20260525043053/https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndca/pr/russian-national-and-bitcoin-exchange-charged-21-count-indictment-operating-alleged","credibility":1,"archive_timestamp":"2026-05-25T04:30:53+00:00"},{"url":"https://www.justice.gov/archives/opa/pr/btc-e-operator-pleads-guilty-money-laundering-conspiracy","name":"BTC-e Operator Pleads Guilty to Money Laundering Conspiracy — DOJ OPA","type":"court_filing","archive_url":"http://web.archive.org/web/20260526034227/https://www.justice.gov/archives/opa/pr/btc-e-operator-pleads-guilty-money-laundering-conspiracy","credibility":1,"archive_timestamp":"2026-05-26T03:42:27+00:00"},{"url":"https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/russian-nationals-charged-hacking-one-cryptocurrency-exchange-and-illicitly-operating","name":"Russian Nationals Charged With Hacking One Cryptocurrency Exchange And Illicitly Operating Another — DOJ SDNY","type":"court_filing","archive_url":"http://web.archive.org/web/20260524105222/https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/russian-nationals-charged-hacking-one-cryptocurrency-exchange-and-illicitly-operating","credibility":1,"archive_timestamp":"2026-05-24T10:52:22+00:00"},{"url":"https://www.ice.gov/news/releases/russian-national-and-bitcoin-exchange-indicted-multi-billion-dollar-money-laundering","name":"Russian national and bitcoin exchange indicted in multi-billion dollar money laundering scheme — ICE","type":"regulatory","archive_url":"http://web.archive.org/web/20260621202741/https://www.ice.gov/news/releases/russian-national-and-bitcoin-exchange-indicted-multi-billion-dollar-money-laundering","credibility":1,"archive_timestamp":"2026-06-21T20:27:41+00:00"},{"url":"https://www.coindesk.com/policy/2024/05/03/btc-e-operator-alexander-vinnik-pleads-guilty-to-money-laundering-conspiracy-charge","name":"BTC-e Operator Alexander Vinnik Pleads Guilty to Money Laundering Conspiracy Charge — CoinDesk","type":"news_article","archive_url":"https://web.archive.org/web/20260725001352/https://www.coindesk.com/policy/2024/05/03/btc-e-operator-alexander-vinnik-pleads-guilty-to-money-laundering-conspiracy-charge","credibility":2,"archive_timestamp":"2026-07-25T00:13:52+00:00"},{"url":"https://www.coindesk.com/policy/2023/06/09/mt-goxs-hackers-are-2-russian-nationals-us-doj-alleges-in-indictment","name":"Mt. Gox's Hackers Are 2 Russian Nationals, U.S. DOJ Alleges in Indictment — CoinDesk","type":"news_article","archive_url":"http://web.archive.org/web/20260302112639/https://www.coindesk.com/policy/2023/06/09/mt-goxs-hackers-are-2-russian-nationals-us-doj-alleges-in-indictment","credibility":2,"archive_timestamp":"2026-03-02T11:26:39+00:00"},{"url":"https://www.coindesk.com/consensus-magazine/2023/06/09/where-the-mt-gox-money-went-new-details-in-the-btc-e-exchange-case","name":"Where the Mt. 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