Bitcoin Forum

The detainee was held on four counts of running an unlicensed money-transfer operation, conspiracy, money laundering in violation of 17 acts in the U.S. criminal code, and transactions in cash acquired through illicit means.

A Greek police official said U.S. authorities accused the man and unnamed associates of running a website that carried out bitcoin conversions for proceeds from online hacking ransom, drug running, identity theft and tax violations.

If the Greek source is proven to be true, this is huge news (BTC-e owners uncovered) and a huge plot twist (Mt Gox coins in BTC-e's hands...) all at the same time...

One of the oldest bitcoin exchange, BTC-e, went down yesterday without any explanation except for tweeting “unplanned maintenance in data center, possible problems with access to btc-e.”

The exchange remains down, with its front page simply stating “site is under maintenance.”
Around the same time, 66,163 bitcoins began moving ... The assets are seemingly being split through numerous blockchain addresses, potentially to obfuscate movement, with 35,000 now left in one address which will likely continue to move.

Two sources close to the BTC-e virtual currency exchange, who declined to be named while commenting on an ongoing case, said Vinnik was a key person behind the platform, which has been offline since reporting "technical problems" late on Tuesday.

... In September 2011, the MtGox hot wallet private keys were stolen, in a case of a simple copied wallet.dat file.

... Over time, the hacker regularly emptied out whatever coins they could spend using the compromised keys, and sent them to wallet(s) controlled by Vinnik. This went on for long periods, but also had breaks — a prominent second phase of thefts happened later in 2012 and 2013.

... After the coins entered Vinnik's wallets, most were moved to BTC-e and presumably sold off or laundered (BTC-e money codes were a popular choice). In total some 300,000 BTC ended up on BTC-e, while other coins were deposited to other exchanges, including MtGox itself.

... Moving coins back onto MtGox was what let us identify Vinnik, as the MtGox accounts he used could be linked to his online identity "WME"

Some analysts also believe Vinnik is connected the massive theft that brought down the Mt Gox bitcoin exchange in 2014. In a report released shortly after the arrest, the security firm Wizsec described Vinnik as “our chief suspect for involvement in the Mt Gox theft (or the laundering of the proceeds thereof).” Analyzing transactions on the blockchain, the group claims to have seen the proceeds from several high-profile Bitcoin thefts pass through wallets controlled by Bitcoin.

...  the exchange has been connected to recent ransomware attacks, said James Smith, chief executive of Elliptic, a company that works with law enforcement to track illicit bitcoin transactions

look at this statement :
The 38-year-old is characterized by the US authorities as one of the leading members of an organization that was running large amounts of money through an online Bitcoin digital exchange platform that helped to "launder" more than $ 4 billion from 2011 to date! This is the BTC-e platform, which after the 38-year-old is arrested as the US prosecution investigation is in full swing.

doesn't that mean any other exchanger that don't have a lisence will get something like this ?
will they force them to shut down their website right ? because they're helping people to 'Launder' the money
plus what happen to mixing services around the world ? doesn't that mean they're doing an illegal acitivity too ?
this is ridiculous,something big will happen soon.

nope,what is that ?

Update2: Ha дaнный мoмeнт вeдyтcя paбoты пo вoccтaнoвлeнию paбoты cepвиca. Пpимepныe cpoки oт 5 дo 10 днeй. Cпacибo зa пoнимaниe

Update2: At the moment, work is underway to restore the service. Approximate terms from 5 to 10 days. Thank you for understanding

"Update2: At the moment, work is underway to restore the service. Approximate terms from 5 to 10 days. Thank you for understanding"
https://btc-e.com/

Soon-ish™  :-X

Ok,
https://www.bitsonline.com/operator-coin-mx-sentenced/
https://www.coindesk.com/men-plead-guilty-running-unlicensed-bitcoin-exchange/

Sure we will see everlasting maintenance from BTC-E team


what the hell,
so this cases already happened back then,
why would many exchanger pop out from nowhere if something like this ever happened in the past ?
plus,what happen to investor who's using their services ?
a big exchanger as we can see such as : kraken,poloniex,and else don't have any lisence
doesn't that mean we're risking our money out there ?

Sure we will see everlasting maintenance from BTC-E team


what the hell,
so this cases already happened back then,
why would many exchanger pop out from nowhere if something like this ever happened in the past ?
plus,what happen to investor who's using their services ?
a big exchanger as we can see such as : kraken,poloniex,and else don't have any lisence
doesn't that mean we're risking our money out there ?

According to media reports, the 38-year-old detainee's name is Alexander Vinnik. He arrived with his wife and children to the Greek city of Thessaloniki, after which they traveled to Halkidiki to a five-star hotel. The FBI declared him wanted as the head of a large "laundry" network.

... The research team found that 95% of the ransoms they observed being paid went through BTC-E, a bitcoin exchange platform

... It’s hard for law enforcement to put pressure on BTC-E because it’s a Russian-operated bitcoin exchange

... Mark Karpeles himself tweeted out that Vinnik was the thief, and although some users met the tweet with disbelief, others started spreading the word

... The stolen Mt Gox coins were not the only stolen coins handled by Vinnik; coins stolen from Bitcoinica, Bitfloor and several other thefts from back in 2011 and 2012 were all laundered through the same wallets.

... To be clear, this investigation turned up evidence to identify Vinnik not as a hacker/thief but as a money launderer; his arrest news also suggests this is what he is being suspected for. He may have merely bought cheap coins from thieves and offered a laundering service

There's a big emphasis on conditionals here, given that we don’t currently know whether authorities are moving to shut down the exchange or seize connected assets. However, recent dark market crackdowns suggest that law enforcement officials are taking an aggressive stance that could extend to BTC-e.

http://digiconomist.net/fraud-risk-assessments

http://digiconomist.net/fraud-risk-assessment-btce
http://digiconomist.net/fraud-risk-assessment-kraken
http://digiconomist.net/fraud-risk-assessment-poloniex
http://digiconomist.net/fraud-risk-assessment-bitfinex
http://digiconomist.net/fraud-risk-assessment-bitstamp

Which one would you trust?

No one, of course! Not even bitstamp which has a so high rating. Better to keep money on exchanges just for short-term trading and then withdraw all the money to our personal wallets.

This is the thing i dont really trust exchanges on which i do really have doubts anytime regarding on their service and we didnt even know whats behind them and now BTC-e owners have been uncovered and now im really shocked that they are connected on Mt. Gox hacked funds. What the h*ll? He do deserve such thing to be imprisoned and the happiest days of his life is over now.

They laundered money, they got caught, they go to jail. This has nothing to do with bitcoin.

If anyone thinks that any government is going to allow tax evasion or money laundering... Well, that must be some sweet weed your smoking.  

Pyotr Kosenko: Is the situation with Alexander Vinnik talking about crime or something more? Many experts believe that the goal was precisely the closure of the largest Russian online trading platform for crypto currency.

Andrei Nikonorov: To begin with, I know Mr. Vinnik perfectly well and I can say for sure that he is not the owner of the exchange, he was simply an employee who performed a number of technical functions - provided verification of users, AML and KYC procedures, communication with Banks - that is, help in support.

Update5! Important! 08/09/2017

Exit from the current situation with the arrested Fiat:

1. Last 14 days we were engaged in struggle for your means, it was possible to gain control over 55% of funds (depends on the course), the remaining 45% are arrested funds, the most part in fiat. As the arrest is withdrawn from the accounts, the amount will decrease.

2. What is the way out of the current situation we see:
2.1. Work under the current BTC-e brand is not possible due to unresolved issues from the Office of Financial Crimes of the US Treasury.
2.2. At the moment, we are negotiating with a group of investors (an investment company), about buying and prompt launch of the service and repaying debts to customers. Further, the process of repayment of debt obligations will be described in more detail.
2.3. After we transfer all balance sheets of the investment company, we will recalculate the balance sheets.
2.4. The conversion procedure, taking into account the available 55% of funds:
2.4.1. All liabilities for fiat (USD, EUR, RUR) will be transferred to BTE tokens (1 BTE is 1 USD) at the exchange rate on the date of conversion. Probably, for more operative closing of promissory notes, ICO will be held on BTE tokens.
2.4.2. If you have on the balance the amount in koin, then you will be written off 45% of the balance of coins and credited with 45% of BTE (1 BTE is 1 USD). At the exchange rate on the day of conversion.
2.4.3. If you have a balance in BTE, then you will be credited with 45% in koin (the amount will be divided into 7 different coins equally BTC, LTC, NMC, NVC, PPC, ETH, DSH) and write off the amount of 45% in BTE.
2.4.4. Upon all recalculations, all users will have the opportunity to withdraw 55% of their funds from the system.
2.5. The investment company works in compliance with KYC, AML and the licenses required for this activity, so all users will need to undergo verification.
2.6. Tentative start dates end of August.

3. All debt obligations will be closed primarily from operating income from the investment company's commission, as well as from the funds we plan to sue from those who illegally arrested them.

The closing of the debt will be based on the principle of buying BTE tokens from the market.

The next update will provide more details on the procedure for accessing information on your balance sheet and when these funds can be withdrawn.

From the BTC-e team we officially inform that all the funds that were in the reserve fund (including all our income) were transferred to pay off the debts.

P.S. A warning! The cases of posting fake links on allegedly our new domain have become more frequent. All official information about our service is placed only in our twitter and from our official account on the forum.

Sincerely, BTC-e team

BTC-e update (Google translated):