BTC-e explained
BTC-e was a cryptocurrency trading platform primarily serving the Russian market, with servers located in the United States. The U.S. government seized their website and funds in 2017.[1] It was founded in July 2011 by Alexander Vinnik and Aleksandr Bilyuchenko,[2] and as of February 2015 handled around 3% of all Bitcoin exchange volume.[3] The platform was eventually taken over by Russian Orthodox oligarch Konstantin Malofeev, and funds from BTC-e were used for the war in Donbass, under the control of the FSB.[4]
It was a component of the CoinDesk Bitcoin Price Index since the index's September 2013 formation.[5]
BTC-e was operated by ALWAYS EFFICIENT LLP, which was registered in London and was listed as having two officers (Sandra Gina Esparon and Evaline Sophie Joubert) and two people with significant control: Alexander Buyanov and Andrii Shvets.[6]
The US Justice Department attempted to close down BTC-e on 26 July 2017, when they charged Vinnik and BTC-e in a 21-count indictment for operating an alleged international money laundering scheme and allegedly laundering funds from the hack of Mt. Gox.[7] [8]
History
BTC-e was established in July 2011, handling a few coin pairs, including Bitcoin/U.S. dollar and I0Coin to Bitcoin.[9] By October 2011, they supported many different currency pairs, including Litecoin to dollars, Bitcoin to rubles and RuCoin to rubles.[10]
The BTC-e website went offline on 25 July 2017, following the arrest of BTC-e staff members and the seizure of server equipment at one of their data centres. These events led to the closure of the BTC-e service.[11] [12]
To repay its customers, BTC-e created WEX tokens, which were used to represent customers' seized equity until its funds were also seized by US Government. The WEX tokens represented $1 and were issued to account for the value of customers cryptocurrencies at the time of the seizure. Alexander Vinnik was convicted and sentenced to 5 years in prison in France while refusing to testify during his trial.[13] He was acquitted on involvement with the Locky ransomware charges. WEX exchange is ultimately controlled by FSB and managed by Konstantin Malofeev.
Notes and References
- Book: The Bitcoin Bible Gold Edition. Benjamin Guttmann. Books on Demand. 2014. 9783732296965. 175–176.
- News: Eckel . Mike . How Much Did Russian Spy Agencies Rely On Bitcoin? New Hints In Leaked Recordings . November 28, 2019 . RFERL . Since its inception in 2011, founded and operated by Vinnik and a partner named Aleksandr Bilyuchenko, BTC-e's business model was heavily reliant on the criminal underworld and people and entities interested in anonymity or hard-to-trace transactions, according to U.S. and other officials. . https://archive.today/20191130120129/https://www.rferl.org/a/how-much-did-russian-spy-agencies-rely-on-bitcoin-new-hints-in-leaked-recordings-/30297083.html . November 30, 2019 . live . June 27, 2020 .
- Web site: Bitcoin Exchanges Market Share . Bitcoinity . 2015-02-10.
- Web site: Russian Agents Suspected of Cleaning Bitcoin-Exchange Platform . 2023-03-07 . www.occrp.org . en-GB.
- News: Del Rey. Jason. What's a Bitcoin Really Worth? CoinDesk Thinks It Has the Answer.. All Things D. September 11, 2013. 22 Oct 2018.
- Web site: ALWAYS EFFICIENT LLP - Overview. Companies House. 22 Oct 2018.
- Web site: Russian National And Bitcoin Exchange Charged In 21-Count Indictment For Operating Alleged International Money Laundering Scheme And Allegedly Laundering Funds From Hack Of Mt. Gox. United States Department of Justice. 26 Jul 2017. 22 Oct 2018.
- Web site: Vinnik Superseding Indictment Redacted for U.S. District Court Northern District of California San Francisco Division Case No CR 16-00227 SI. United States Department of Justice. https://web.archive.org/web/20170727022934/https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndca/press-release/file/984661/download. 27 July 2017. Alt URL
- yourbtcc . 877577485294067712 . June 21, 2017 . Hi, BTCC is the longest-running bitcoin exchange worldwide. BTC-E was established on July 17, 2011. BTCC was founded on June 9, 2011. . https://archive.today/20200627021135/https://twitter.com/yourbtcc/status/877577485294067712 . June 27, 2020 . live .
- Web site: Start trading on a pairs of BTC/RUB, LTC/USD, RUC/RUB, USD/RUB!. 2015-11-20. 2011-10-25. BTC-e. https://web.archive.org/web/20151121093750/https://btc-e.com/news/37. 2015-11-21. dead.
- News: Russian National And Bitcoin Exchange Charged In 21-Count Indictment For Operating Alleged International Money Laundering Scheme And Allegedly Laundering Funds From Hack Of Mt. Gox. 26 Jul 2017. United States Department of Justice.
- News: Russian wanted in US caught in Greece for money laundering. 2017-07-26. The Daily Star Newspaper - Lebanon. 2017-07-28. Associated Press. 2017-07-27. https://web.archive.org/web/20170727130344/http://www.dailystar.com.lb//News/World/2017/Jul-26/414044-russian-wanted-in-us-caught-in-greece-for-money-laundering.ashx. dead.
- News: BTC-e founder sentenced to five years in prison for laundering ransomware funds. 2020-12-07. ZDNet. 2020-12-09. Catalin Cimpanu.
