Verify a decision

{"actor":"system:backfill","investigation_id":"772d461f-3344-4799-aaac-a16e43650149","kind":"publish","page_slug":"btc-e","published_at":"2026-05-30T12:59:31.170Z","sequence_num":1,"snapshot":{"content_type":"investigation","entity_name":"BTC-e","sections":[{"content":"","heading":"Overview and Operations","severity":"critical","sources":[{"credibility":1,"name":"FinCEN Fines BTC-e Virtual Currency Exchange $110 Million for Facilitating Ransomware, Dark Net Drug Sales","type":"regulatory","url":"https://www.fincen.gov/news/news-releases/fincen-fines-btc-e-virtual-currency-exchange-110-million-facilitating-ransomware"},{"credibility":1,"name":"Russian National And Bitcoin Exchange Charged In 21-Count Indictment — DOJ NDCA","type":"court_filing","url":"https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndca/pr/russian-national-and-bitcoin-exchange-charged-21-count-indictment-operating-alleged"}]},{"content":"","heading":"Money Laundering and Criminal Facilitation","severity":"critical","sources":[{"credibility":1,"name":"FinCEN Fines BTC-e Virtual Currency Exchange $110 Million for Facilitating Ransomware, Dark Net Drug Sales","type":"regulatory","url":"https://www.fincen.gov/news/news-releases/fincen-fines-btc-e-virtual-currency-exchange-110-million-facilitating-ransomware"},{"credibility":1,"name":"Russian national and bitcoin exchange indicted in multi-billion dollar money laundering scheme — ICE","type":"regulatory","url":"https://www.ice.gov/news/releases/russian-national-and-bitcoin-exchange-indicted-multi-billion-dollar-money-laundering"}]},{"content":"","heading":"Connection to the Mt. Gox Hack","severity":"critical","sources":[{"credibility":2,"name":"Mt. Gox's Hackers Are 2 Russian Nationals, U.S. DOJ Alleges in Indictment — CoinDesk","type":"news_article","url":"https://www.coindesk.com/policy/2023/06/09/mt-goxs-hackers-are-2-russian-nationals-us-doj-alleges-in-indictment"},{"credibility":1,"name":"Russian Nationals Charged With Hacking One Cryptocurrency Exchange And Illicitly Operating Another — DOJ SDNY","type":"court_filing","url":"https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/russian-nationals-charged-hacking-one-cryptocurrency-exchange-and-illicitly-operating"},{"credibility":2,"name":"Where the Mt. Gox Money Went: New Details in the BTC-e Exchange Case — CoinDesk","type":"news_article","url":"https://www.coindesk.com/consensus-magazine/2023/06/09/where-the-mt-gox-money-went-new-details-in-the-btc-e-exchange-case"}]},{"content":"","heading":"Law Enforcement Action and Shutdown (2017)","severity":"critical","sources":[{"credibility":1,"name":"Russian National And Bitcoin Exchange Charged In 21-Count Indictment — DOJ NDCA","type":"court_filing","url":"https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndca/pr/russian-national-and-bitcoin-exchange-charged-21-count-indictment-operating-alleged"},{"credibility":1,"name":"FinCEN Fines BTC-e Virtual Currency Exchange $110 Million for Facilitating Ransomware, Dark Net Drug Sales","type":"regulatory","url":"https://www.fincen.gov/news/news-releases/fincen-fines-btc-e-virtual-currency-exchange-110-million-facilitating-ransomware"},{"credibility":2,"name":"Another Black Eye for Bitcoin: Exchange fined $110M for money laundering — Fortune","type":"news_article","url":"https://fortune.com/2017/07/27/btc-e-digital-currency/"}]},{"content":"","heading":"Alexander Vinnik: Arrest, Extradition, Conviction, and Prisoner Exchange","severity":"critical","sources":[{"credibility":2,"name":"BTC-e Operator Alexander Vinnik Pleads Guilty to Money Laundering Conspiracy Charge — CoinDesk","type":"news_article","url":"https://www.coindesk.com/policy/2024/05/03/btc-e-operator-alexander-vinnik-pleads-guilty-to-money-laundering-conspiracy-charge"},{"credibility":1,"name":"BTC-e Operator Pleads Guilty to Money Laundering Conspiracy — DOJ OPA","type":"court_filing","url":"https://www.justice.gov/archives/opa/pr/btc-e-operator-pleads-guilty-money-laundering-conspiracy"},{"credibility":2,"name":"Who is Alexander Vinnik, the Bitcoin criminal Trump freed in a prisoner exchange with Russia? — Fortune","type":"news_article","url":"https://fortune.com/crypto/2025/02/13/who-is-alexander-vinnik-bitcoin-criminal-trump-freed-exchange-russia/"},{"credibility":2,"name":"Russian crypto kingpin Alexander Vinnik returns to Russia in swap for Fogel — Axios","type":"news_article","url":"https://www.axios.com/2025/02/12/marc-fogel-russia-prisoner-swap-trump-putin"},{"credibility":2,"name":"Greece Extradites Russian Suspected In Bitcoin Fraud To U.S. — RFE/RL","type":"news_article","url":"https://www.rferl.org/a/russian-national-vinnik-greece-extradited-united-states-bitcoin/31975304.html"}]},{"content":"","heading":"WEX: Successor Exchange and Exit Scam","severity":"high","sources":[{"credibility":2,"name":"Crypto-corruption: WEX exchange founder says he transferred funds to the FSB — Meduza","type":"news_article","url":"https://meduza.io/en/feature/2019/11/15/crypto-corruption"},{"credibility":2,"name":"Russia moves to confiscate $30M assets in WEX corruption case — Cryptopolitan","type":"news_article","url":"https://www.cryptopolitan.com/russia-to-confiscate-assets-wex-corruption/"},{"credibility":2,"name":"Defunct Bitcoin Exchange WEX (Formerly BTC-E) Chief Arrested in Italy — CCN","type":"news_article","url":"https://www.ccn.com/defunct-bitcoin-exchange-wex-formerly-btc-e-chief-arrested-in-italy-bbc/"}]},{"content":"","heading":"Regulatory and Legal Significance","severity":"high","sources":[{"credibility":1,"name":"FinCEN Fines BTC-e Virtual Currency Exchange $110 Million for Facilitating Ransomware, Dark Net Drug Sales","type":"regulatory","url":"https://www.fincen.gov/news/news-releases/fincen-fines-btc-e-virtual-currency-exchange-110-million-facilitating-ransomware"},{"credibility":2,"name":"U.S. DOJ Seeks to Seize Crypto Assets from Defunct BTC-e Exchange — Blockonomi","type":"news_article","url":"https://blockonomi.com/u-s-doj-seeks-to-seize-crypto-assets-from-defunct-btc-e-exchange/"},{"credibility":3,"name":"Victims of the BTC-e Seizure Filing Claims — Criminal Defense Attorney Tampa","type":"other","url":"https://criminaldefenseattorneytampa.com/asset-seizure-asset-forfeiture/cryptocurrency/btc-e/"}]}],"sources_used":[{"credibility":1,"name":"FinCEN Fines BTC-e Virtual Currency Exchange $110 Million for Facilitating Ransomware, Dark Net Drug Sales","type":"regulatory","url":"https://www.fincen.gov/news/news-releases/fincen-fines-btc-e-virtual-currency-exchange-110-million-facilitating-ransomware"},{"credibility":1,"name":"Russian National And Bitcoin Exchange Charged In 21-Count Indictment — DOJ NDCA","type":"court_filing","url":"https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndca/pr/russian-national-and-bitcoin-exchange-charged-21-count-indictment-operating-alleged"},{"credibility":1,"name":"BTC-e Operator Pleads Guilty to Money Laundering Conspiracy — DOJ OPA","type":"court_filing","url":"https://www.justice.gov/archives/opa/pr/btc-e-operator-pleads-guilty-money-laundering-conspiracy"},{"credibility":1,"name":"Russian Nationals Charged With Hacking One Cryptocurrency Exchange And Illicitly Operating Another — DOJ SDNY","type":"court_filing","url":"https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/russian-nationals-charged-hacking-one-cryptocurrency-exchange-and-illicitly-operating"},{"credibility":1,"name":"Russian national and bitcoin exchange indicted in multi-billion dollar money laundering scheme — ICE","type":"regulatory","url":"https://www.ice.gov/news/releases/russian-national-and-bitcoin-exchange-indicted-multi-billion-dollar-money-laundering"},{"credibility":2,"name":"BTC-e Operator Alexander Vinnik Pleads Guilty to Money Laundering Conspiracy Charge — CoinDesk","type":"news_article","url":"https://www.coindesk.com/policy/2024/05/03/btc-e-operator-alexander-vinnik-pleads-guilty-to-money-laundering-conspiracy-charge"},{"credibility":2,"name":"Mt. Gox's Hackers Are 2 Russian Nationals, U.S. DOJ Alleges in Indictment — CoinDesk","type":"news_article","url":"https://www.coindesk.com/policy/2023/06/09/mt-goxs-hackers-are-2-russian-nationals-us-doj-alleges-in-indictment"},{"credibility":2,"name":"Where the Mt. Gox Money Went: New Details in the BTC-e Exchange Case — CoinDesk","type":"news_article","url":"https://www.coindesk.com/consensus-magazine/2023/06/09/where-the-mt-gox-money-went-new-details-in-the-btc-e-exchange-case"},{"credibility":2,"name":"Who is Alexander Vinnik, the Bitcoin criminal Trump freed in a prisoner exchange with Russia? — Fortune","type":"news_article","url":"https://fortune.com/crypto/2025/02/13/who-is-alexander-vinnik-bitcoin-criminal-trump-freed-exchange-russia/"},{"credibility":2,"name":"Russian crypto kingpin Alexander Vinnik returns to Russia in swap for Fogel — Axios","type":"news_article","url":"https://www.axios.com/2025/02/12/marc-fogel-russia-prisoner-swap-trump-putin"},{"credibility":2,"name":"Russian accused of money laundering and running $4B bitcoin exchange extradited to US — CNN Politics","type":"news_article","url":"https://www.cnn.com/2022/08/04/politics/russian-bitcoin-extradited-us/index.html"},{"credibility":2,"name":"Greece Extradites Russian Suspected In Bitcoin Fraud To U.S. — RFE/RL","type":"news_article","url":"https://www.rferl.org/a/russian-national-vinnik-greece-extradited-united-states-bitcoin/31975304.html"},{"credibility":2,"name":"Another Black Eye for Bitcoin: Exchange fined $110M for money laundering — Fortune","type":"news_article","url":"https://fortune.com/2017/07/27/btc-e-digital-currency/"},{"credibility":2,"name":"Crypto-corruption: WEX exchange founder says he transferred funds to the FSB — Meduza","type":"news_article","url":"https://meduza.io/en/feature/2019/11/15/crypto-corruption"},{"credibility":2,"name":"U.S. DOJ Seeks to Seize Crypto Assets from Defunct BTC-e Exchange — Blockonomi","type":"news_article","url":"https://blockonomi.com/u-s-doj-seeks-to-seize-crypto-assets-from-defunct-btc-e-exchange/"},{"credibility":2,"name":"BTC-e founder pleads guilty in $9B money laundering conspiracy — CoinTelegraph","type":"news_article","url":"https://cointelegraph.com/news/btc-e-founder-pleads-guilty-in-9-billion-laundering-conspiracy"},{"credibility":3,"name":"Alexander Vinnik — Wikipedia","type":"other","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Vinnik"},{"credibility":3,"name":"BTC-e — Wikipedia","type":"other","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BTC-e"}],"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.","timeline":[{"date":"2011-07-01","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":"2011-09-01","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":"2014-02-01","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":"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":"2017-09-01","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":"2018-07-01","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":"2020-01-01","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":"2022-08-01","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":"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/"}]},"v":1}