BTC-e
Provisional: this score is the AI investigator's judgment, not yet calculated by our published formula. Treat it as indicative. How scoring works →
anchored·AAz9fP…CiMLSummary
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.
Connected Entities
3 entities · 60 linked investigations- BTC-e→mentioned with→Bitcoin(70%)
- BTC-e→mentioned with→Mt. Gox(90%)
- Mt. Gox→mentioned with→BTC-e(70%)
- Mt. Gox→mentioned with→Bitcoin(80%)
- Bitcoin→mentioned with→Mt. Gox(85%)
Connected Through
3 shared actors · 482 investigationsDistinct actors this investigation shares with others — holders, traders, and named parties. Shared infrastructure (exchanges, pools) is excluded.
- ♦Bitcointoken
- □Mt. Goxorganization
- □BTC-eorganizationalso in
Timeline(13 events)
July 2011
BTC-e cryptocurrency exchange founded by Alexander Vinnik and Alexey Bilyuchenko.
BTC-e Wikipedia / DOJ IndictmentSeptember 2011
Bilyuchenko, Verner, and co-conspirators allegedly gain unauthorized access to Mt. Gox servers and begin stealing Bitcoin, according to a 2023 DOJ indictment.
DOJ SDNY Indictment (2023)February 2014
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.
FinCEN Enforcement Action (2017)25 July 2017
BTC-e website goes offline. Alexander Vinnik is arrested in Ouranoupoli, Greece at the request of U.S. authorities.
DOJ / ICE Press Release26 July 2017
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.
DOJ NDCA / FinCENSeptember 2017
WEX exchange launches as a successor to BTC-e, promising to compensate former BTC-e users.
BTC-e WikipediaJuly 2018
WEX exchange ceases operations in an alleged exit scam, disappearing with remaining customer assets.
Meduza / Cryptopolitan2020
Greece extradites Vinnik to France. He is subsequently convicted of money laundering and sentenced to five years in prison.
Business Standard / RFE/RLAugust 2022
Vinnik extradited from France to the United States to face the original 2017 federal charges.
CNN Politics9 June 2023
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.
DOJ SDNY / CoinDesk3 May 2024
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.
DOJ / CoinDesk13 February 2025
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.
Axios / Fortune / NBC News30 June 2025
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.
Blockonomi / Criminal Defense Attorney TampaDecision Log
- slot 423161122 · hash HMXMBN3THhWnarbeCnLMus5RTADVxSENhsNS9GM7Yys3
This investigation is cryptographically anchored to the Solana blockchain (1 decision). 18 of 18 cited source URLs have an Internet Archive snapshot.
model: claude-sonnet-4-5
generated: 5/30/2026, 12:59:26 PM
last updated: 8/29/2026, 1:35:30 AM
3 viewsavoid.net — verified advice for a post-truth world