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Author Topic: Is the BTC-e shut down legal?  (Read 2015 times)
nelruk (OP)
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July 31, 2017, 01:14:47 PM
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BTC-e is Russia based exchange operator which was accused by the FinCen enforcement law authorities for money laundering and being linked with drug sales, AML and stole bitcoins from MtGox. Their press release says:

Quote
BTC-e also processed transactions involving funds stolen between 2011 and 2014 from one of the world’s largest bitcoin exchanges, Mt. Gox.  BTC-e processed over 300,000 bitcoin in transactions traceable to the theft.  FinCEN has also identified at least $3 million of facilitated transactions tied to ransomware attacks such as “Cryptolocker” and “Locky.”  Further, BTC-e shared customers and conducted transactions with the now-defunct money laundering website Liberty Reserve.

How is that a Russian-based exchange could be shut down by US authorities? What are the basis to do it?

Bitcoin is revolution. Visit http://bitcoinlandia.net Smiley my personal blog about bitcoin in spanish
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August 01, 2017, 01:31:56 AM
 #2

BTC-e is Russia based exchange operator which was accused by the FinCen enforcement law authorities for money laundering and being linked with drug sales, AML and stole bitcoins from MtGox. Their press release says:

Quote
BTC-e also processed transactions involving funds stolen between 2011 and 2014 from one of the world’s largest bitcoin exchanges, Mt. Gox.  BTC-e processed over 300,000 bitcoin in transactions traceable to the theft.  FinCEN has also identified at least $3 million of facilitated transactions tied to ransomware attacks such as “Cryptolocker” and “Locky.”  Further, BTC-e shared customers and conducted transactions with the now-defunct money laundering website Liberty Reserve.

How is that a Russian-based exchange could be shut down by US authorities? What are the basis to do it?

LOL, even if they didnt have juridiction, this definitely happened and is not going to be reversed by mere petition. the coins belong to the US now, essentially, because they are evidence. I would be absolutely floored if the authorities released those coins; notice that the legal guys on the dark markets didnt get their coins back. They dont seem to evaluate individual cases; the group is guilty by association.

But to answer your question, this is American partisan politics at work Wink notice the timing of everything:

1)Russian investigation in election interference
2)Sessions rolls back asset forfeiture laws 10 years
3)Alpha Bay gets taken down (they were obviously watching it for a while, why now?)
4)Hansa gets taken down (same scenario)
5)BTCE bro gets arrested
6)Our Senate approves Russian sanctions

if this doesnt make a pattern to you, let business insider spell it out:
Quote
His arrest is the latest in a series of US operations against Russian cyber criminals in Europe. Last week, the US Justice Department moved to shut down the dark web marketplace AlphaBay.

The prosecutions also coincide with intensified scrutiny of Russian hackers after US intelligence officials determined that Russia interfered in the 2016 US presidential election using cyber warfare methods to help Donald Trump, something Moscow denies.

Also, hope this doesnt cut down of the user coin total:

Quote
The US Financial Crimes Enforcement Network is imposing a $110 million (£83 million) penalty on BTC-e, and a $12 million (£9.1 million) fine on Vinnick.

Pretty sure this guy was smart enough to have his coins off exchange, so where is all that fine going to come from? Wink
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August 01, 2017, 02:04:46 AM
 #3

were the invasions of Iraq,Syria,Afganistan,Lybia etc. etc. legal?
hope I answered your question Smiley

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sweetdesirez
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August 01, 2017, 02:46:21 AM
 #4

U.S.A. did not shut down BTC-e, and technically there is no way they can. Most to most they can shut down their services in the States and their friendly allies. They arrested the owner. It was BTC-e who shut themselves down after the arrest of their boss.
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August 02, 2017, 08:19:38 AM
 #5

U.S.A. did not shut down BTC-e, and technically there is no way they can. Most to most they can shut down their services in the States and their friendly allies. They arrested the owner. It was BTC-e who shut themselves down after the arrest of their boss.

That's not entirely true. The FBI seized some of their servers and their primary domain. It wouldn't be wise to immediately spring back up on, say, btc-e.nz, as that would be immediately taken down. Relaunching under these circumstances is pretty tricky; I don't give it a good chance. It would be like the Pirate Bay, constantly changing domains to keep service alive. The fact that they have a fiat exchange is also problematic; USD and EUR are much easier to seize than crypto.

Also, it's really not clear that he was the owner. Many insiders and the exchange itself denies this; and the the Wiz report seems to support the assertion that, perhaps, he was just a major liquidity provider (having come into the stolen Gox coins).

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August 02, 2017, 10:06:50 AM
 #6

BTC-e is Russia based exchange operator which was accused by the FinCen enforcement law authorities for money laundering and being linked with drug sales, AML and stole bitcoins from MtGox. Their press release says:

Quote
BTC-e also processed transactions involving funds stolen between 2011 and 2014 from one of the world’s largest bitcoin exchanges, Mt. Gox.  BTC-e processed over 300,000 bitcoin in transactions traceable to the theft.  FinCEN has also identified at least $3 million of facilitated transactions tied to ransomware attacks such as “Cryptolocker” and “Locky.”  Further, BTC-e shared customers and conducted transactions with the now-defunct money laundering website Liberty Reserve.

How is that a Russian-based exchange could be shut down by US authorities? What are the basis to do it?

It does not matter if they dont have direct jurisdiction but they will have legal backing as a result of several treaties and agreements signed by both parties. If it were to be another third world country then we could argue that US government just use their domineering power but definitely not Russia and even with their counter sanctions against each other, those agreement still stands and they will still collaborate of several other issues.

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August 02, 2017, 11:06:06 AM
 #7

I'm Really Worrier about this News. BTC e is Russian base and it's technically Operate there .. But How to shut down by US authorities. and US Authorities arrested BTC e owner and the are also seized btc e domain. But I want to know how and why the do this ?
Vishnu.Reang
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August 02, 2017, 05:51:32 PM
 #8

First of all, BTC-e is not a Russian exchange. The owners were Russian-speaking individuals (but I am not sure whether they are/were Russian citizens). BTC-e was based in Sofia (Bulgaria) and most probably the servers were also located in that country.
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August 02, 2017, 06:30:54 PM
 #9

First of all, BTC-e is not a Russian exchange. The owners were Russian-speaking individuals (but I am not sure whether they are/were Russian citizens). BTC-e was based in Sofia (Bulgaria) and most probably the servers were also located in that country.



Thanks Give for this Information and give us right information and clear our doubt . But I don't know what happens whit BTC e and there investor.
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August 02, 2017, 06:51:13 PM
 #10

were the invasions of Iraq,Syria,Afganistan,Lybia etc. etc. legal?
hope I answered your question Smiley
That is a very good point,but they are playing the world police for a very long time and it is time to shut them out,i am not sure whether the said legal charges are even true,they are just setting an example with him so that the rest of the exchanges follow the KYC rules and so on and that is what i think about this case .
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August 02, 2017, 10:06:30 PM
 #11

When you have American citizens as clients, you're automatically doing business in the USA and therefore logically they have jurisfuckingdiction...

When you allegedly launder funds/assets/goods stolen from American citizens you open yourself up to their jurisfuckingdiction...

It really takes almost no brainpower to figure out IF you do business in any country you must comply with their laws.

You think that being in a foreign country is what, some kind of an open invitation to commit crimes in the US??

If you do these kinds of things, if you're big enough to catch LEO's eye then you risk being targeted...

Location of the person/company/whatever is only relevant in terms of catching the person physically and obtaining physical evidence... Sometimes its easier than others.

This is not the fucking Americans policing the world or retaliation for Russian hacking blah blah blah.  It's American LEO's trying to protect their citizens from organizations operating against their laws.

I'm sure the Libertarian and conspiracy crowds will love this but logic is completely reasonable in a normal sense of things.  Grin
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August 03, 2017, 10:09:51 PM
 #12

When you have American citizens as clients, you're automatically doing business in the USA and therefore logically they have jurisfuckingdiction...

When you allegedly launder funds/assets/goods stolen from American citizens you open yourself up to their jurisfuckingdiction...

It really takes almost no brainpower to figure out IF you do business in any country you must comply with their laws.

You think that being in a foreign country is what, some kind of an open invitation to commit crimes in the US??

If you do these kinds of things, if you're big enough to catch LEO's eye then you risk being targeted...

Location of the person/company/whatever is only relevant in terms of catching the person physically and obtaining physical evidence... Sometimes its easier than others.

This is not the fucking Americans policing the world or retaliation for Russian hacking blah blah blah.  It's American LEO's trying to protect their citizens from organizations operating against their laws.

I'm sure the Libertarian and conspiracy crowds will love this but logic is completely reasonable in a normal sense of things.  Grin

I will concede that this could be simply law enforcement doing what they get paid to do. People havent mentioned it in the zeal to shit on US legal overreach, but this was a collaboration between many different international policing bodies:

Quote from: Jeff Sessions, at a Press Conference Announcing AlphaBay Takedown
I want to thank our international partners at Europol and in Thailand, the Netherlands, Lithuania, Canada, the United Kingdom, Canada, France and Germany who worked closely with us to takedown this criminal enterprise.

but why now? do you truly think its a coincidence that we took down three illegal crypto operations in a week? im reasonably sure all three of these investigations have been going on for at least months; the btce operation has obviously been going on for years. again, why conclude all operations pretty much simultaneously?

and this is a pretty weak motivation:

Quote
And today, some of the most prolific drug suppliers use what’s called the dark web —which is a collection of hidden websites that you can only access if you mask your identity and your location. And it’s called dark not just because these sites are intentionally hidden. It’s also dark because of what’s sold on many of them: illegal weapons, stolen identities, child pornography and large amounts of deadly drugs.
 
Today the Department of Justice announces the takedown of the dark web market AlphaBay. This is the largest dark net marketplace takedown in history.
 

An AlphaBay staff member claimed that it serviced more than 40,000 illegal vendors for more than 200,000 customers.

 By far, most of this activity was in illegal drugs, pouring fuel on the fire of the national drug epidemic. Around the time of takedown of the site, there were more than 250,000 listings for illegal drugs and toxic chemicals on AlphaBay — more than two-thirds of all listings on AlphaBay.
 
As of earlier this year, 122 vendors advertised fentanyl and 238 advertised heroin, and we know of several Americans who were killed by drugs sold on Alpha Bay.

so we closed multi year investigations because of the decade old opioid epidemic. interesting indeed. also, pretty alphabay/hansa amounts to a very small percentage of the drug markets.

but this seems to be on target:

Quote
This is likely one of the most important criminal case of the year. Make no mistake, the forces of law and justice face a new challenge from the criminals and transnational criminal organizations who think they can commit their crimes with impunity by ‘going dark.’ This case, pursued by dedicated agents and prosecutors, says you are not safe.  You cannot hide. We will find you, dismantle your organization and network.  And we will prosecute you.

Something else to ponder on (this was prior):

Quote
Since then, the Drug Enforcement Administration has reported hundreds of seizures of carfentanil — initially in Ohio, Florida and neighboring states — and in the past few weeks, it's also shown up in New York, Pennsylvania and New England. The DEA says China is the main source for carfentanil and that it's getting to the U.S. through two major routes: Mexico via drug cartels, which are processing and shipping the stuff across the U.S. border, and through the U.S. mail.

From her base in China, Kinetz perused the web to see how easy it was to buy carfentanil. She and her colleagues found that "it was very easy. We certainly got a lot of offers for many different opioids. We were focused initially particularly on carfentanil because it's one of the strongest opioids in the fentanyl class of drugs, and it's been used in the past as a chemical weapon. And just looking on the open internet, I found over a dozen companies that were happy to offer carfentanil for sale. Sometimes they would guarantee delivery to major Western capitals. Some companies would offer advice on how to best sneak packages past customs," she said.

This, doesnt seem like the most effective way to solve that.
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August 03, 2017, 10:26:16 PM
 #13

And to think people want more regulation...  Roll Eyes

They certainly should have been shut down. But the fact that all the little people were hurt by it is the worst. That's why peer regulation is better. You can be damn sure if White-Hat hackers took over BTC-E it would have been dealt with differently, as an example.

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August 04, 2017, 02:50:55 PM
 #14

Don't know who shutdown btc-e.com but I read a news.There I read that FBI got access to their server.If they access their server thee can do anything they want. R.I.P btc-e.com Sad
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August 13, 2017, 04:10:42 AM
 #15

This is the big reason why there are now many crypto-related companies who are not anymore accepting USA citizens as customers because they are fearing the overarching and overstretched power of the United States of America. Now, I am wondering: What if another government would be doing the same thing they had done...would they just let things be or would they be protesting?

I love America for so many things but sometimes it does not mean I fully agree with some of their decisions. They have the tendency to act unilaterally and then later on when there can be problems they would seek cooperation from the parties that are supposed to be doing the job.

Oh my USA!
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August 28, 2017, 07:54:41 PM
 #16

My opinion is that the bitcoins I owned which were ripped off at MtGox, at present value are many times that of my home and property, are worth getting upset about.  The previous estimated settlement looks like about 1/25th their current value.  I feel BTC-e should lose all their bitcoins and those added to the settlement.  And any other stolen bitcoins properly traced back to the theft from MtGox should be returned.  Like Naxi stolen art returned to rightful owners.

soy39

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August 29, 2017, 04:14:33 PM
 #17

Government institutions can do anything via the power and laws that set them up the only thing that serves as a form of restriction to their power is to get a warrant which is mostly the cheapest thing to obtain when it comes to crack down of any organisation or individual as most of the time they have the judge to grant their request at their call in that even if they need it in the middle of the night, they will always get it.
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September 01, 2017, 01:07:51 AM
 #18

So, there's that very nice flow chart of where the bitcoins stolen from MtGox went.  I understand that MtGox didn't keep track of from whom the bitcoins came after they were pooled so tracing anyone's individual lost bitcoins isn't possible.  But there are records of what when in and what when out and what was stolen.  BTC is figured to eight digits after the decimal.  Even if lots of dust in the form of satoshi were part of the stolen bitcoins, it wouldn't be impossible to identify each and every one I suppose.  Heck, they can trace the genome back to when branches of the human tree split from other primates.  So, every bitcoin stolen from MtGox can be identified to down to satoshi.  Why not inform all exchanges having any of those bitcoins that might have reached the exchange through innocent users, that they are in possession of stolen property and not to trade those because they may have to be returned.

soy39
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September 01, 2017, 09:19:57 PM
Last edit: September 02, 2017, 11:52:24 AM by Flying Hellfish
 #19

 Why not inform all exchanges having any of those bitcoins that might have reached the exchange through innocent users, that they are in possession of stolen property and not to trade those because they may have to be returned.

soy39

Doesn't work like that.  Bitcoins are fungible so how the exchanges came into possession of the coins matters a great deal.
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