Russian IT specialist Alexander Vinnik, accused of proudly owning and working the notorious crypto change BTC-e, has been handed over to the U.S. This week, Greek authorities proceeded with the extradition, after his return from France, regardless of Vinnik’s protection protesting the transfer and calling the case a “judicial, diplomatic and humanitarian scandal.”
The presumed co-founder and operator of the infamous crypto change BTC-e, Alexander Vinnik, was extradited from Greece to america on Thursday. The Russian nationwide is dealing with expenses within the Northern District of California and has already appeared in federal court docket in San Francisco, the U.S. Division of Justice introduced Friday. Assistant Lawyer Normal Kenneth A. Well mannered, Jr. of the division’s Prison Division, was quoted as stating:
After greater than 5 years of litigation, Russian nationwide Alexander Vinnik was extradited to america yesterday to be held accountable for working BTC-e, a prison cryptocurrency change, which laundered greater than $4 billion of prison proceeds.
The 42-year-old Vinnik was arrested whereas on trip within the Greek metropolis of Thessaloniki in the summertime of 2017 on a U.S. warrant. He had been charged by American prosecutors in a 21-count superseding indictment in January of that 12 months. Greece permitted an extradition request filed by america however despatched him first to France in December 2019, underneath a European arrest warrant.
A French court docket sentenced the Russian crypto entrepreneur to 5 years in jail for cash laundering, and he just lately served his time period, bearing in mind his pre-trial detention. In France, he was additionally charged with id theft and extortion. In July, U.S. authorities withdrew a request to get the Russian instantly from France in an apparent try to hurry up his switch by Greece, which had already permitted his extradition to america.
In response to the U.S. indictment, the now-defunct BTC-e was a “important cybercrime and on-line cash laundering entity that allowed its customers to commerce in bitcoin with excessive ranges of anonymity and developed a buyer base closely reliant on prison exercise.” It alleges the change facilitated international cybercrime transactions, receiving proceeds from a variety of crimes, such because the Mt Gox hack, ransomware scams, and even drug commerce.
BTC-e and Vinnik had been charged with one depend of operation of an unlicensed cash service enterprise within the U.S., and one depend of conspiracy to commit cash laundering as properly. The Russian can also be dealing with 17 counts of cash laundering and two counts of partaking in illegal financial transactions. The Justice Division famous his platform had no system for know-your-customer verification and no anti-money laundering program as required by federal regulation.
Talking to the Russian information company Tass, Vinnik’s French lawyer Frederic Belot confirmed his defendant had been handed over to US custody, upon his return from France underneath the choice by the Investigation Chamber of the Paris Court docket of Appeals from Thursday morning. “He was instantly transferred to a different airplane that flew to america. The airplane landed in Boston after which flew to San Francisco,” Belot defined.
“Alexander Vinnik, who needs to be free based mostly on three selections by the French justice, was transferred yesterday as a prisoner to Greece and there he was actually ‘loaded’ on a non-public airplane to the USA, with out being allowed, as he requested and whereas in search of asylum, to have entry to an interpreter, to me as his lawyer,” Zoe Konstantopoulou, who has been representing him in Greece and France, mentioned quoted by the Greek newspaper Ethnos.
Konstantopoulou just lately shared her fears that the Russian shall be held by the U.S. as a “hostage” of the continued army battle in NATO-supported Ukraine, the place Moscow is waging a full-scale warfare since late February, offered as a “particular army operation” in protection of the Russian-speaking inhabitants. Western governments have chosen to disregard Russia’s personal requests for Vinnik’s extradition.
The IT skilled, who has denied the U.S. allegations and maintained his innocence, has beforehand expressed his will to return to his homeland and seem earlier than court docket there. In Russia he’s charged with embezzlement of greater than 600,000 rubles (near $10,000) and “fraud within the subject of laptop data” for 750 million rubles ($12.3 million).
Whereas the U.S. Justice Division thanked the Greek authorities and justice ministry “for all their efforts in securing the defendant’s switch to america,” the spokesperson of the Russian Ministry of International Affairs Maria Zakharova acknowledged that Moscow is “outraged by the unfriendly actions of the Greek authorities” and accused Washington of conducting a “actual hunt for Russian residents,” calling Vinnik’s hasty extradition an “abduction.” Whereas not talked about within the DOJ announcement, the proprietor of BTC-e is suspected of getting collaborated with Russian intelligence, too.
In her feedback, Zoe Konstantopoulou described the case as a multi-year “judicial, diplomatic, intergovernmental scandal,” whereas referring to his extradition as a “violent disappearance from Greek territory” which “constitutes a Mafia technique and a prison act… a critical violation of worldwide regulation and Greek laws,” dedicated with the participation of two international states. Vinnik sought asylum in Greece and his protection staff has been attempting to additionally safe a launch on humanitarian grounds. His spouse died in 2020 and their two sons at the moment are rising up with out mother and father.
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Just before his cryptocurrency empire crumbled in November 2021, Sam Bankman-Fried considered going on Tucker Carlson’s show to “come out as a republican” to rehabilitate his image. On Thursday, almost a year since the former FTX founder was sentenced to 25 years in prison for defrauding users of his cryptocurrency exchange, he finally fulfilled his plan.
From “a little side room” of Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Detention Center, Bankman-Fried spent his 33rd birthday dishing to Carlson in a wide-ranging interview, which included new details about life in prison with his cell block mate, Sean “Diddy” Combs. As NBC previously reported, Bankman-Fried and Combs, who has been charged with sex trafficking, are being housed in the same unit.
“I’ve only seen one piece of him, which is Diddy in prison, and he’s been kind to people in the unit; he’s been kind to me,” Bankman-Fried told the former Fox News host on “The Tucker Carlson Show.” “It’s also — it’s a position no one wants to be in.”
Bankman-Fried, 33, was convicted in November 2023 of seven counts of wire fraud, securities fraud and money laundering for swindling customers of FTX and lenders of Alameda Research, its associated hedge fund. Prosecutors said Bankman-Fried “perpetrated one of the biggest financial frauds in American history.”
A chief public information officer for the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York declined to comment.
Bankman-Fried told Carlson that he has “made some friends” at the Brooklyn center, where sources told NBC he is in a unit for detainees that need extra protection.
“It’s sort of dystopian,” Bankman-Fried said. “You know, the fortunate thing, the place I’m in, I’m not in … I’m not in physical danger.”
He said the unit has defendants of high profile cases and “a lot of ex-gangsters — or alleged ex-gangsters.” When asked how cellblock mates feel about being housed with him and Combs, Bankman-Fried theorized that some of them think “this is a big opportunity to meet people they wouldn’t otherwise get to meet.”
“They’re good at chess. That’s one thing I learned,” Bankman-Fried added. “Former armed robbers who don’t speak English and probably didn’t graduate middle school, a surprising number of them are fairly good at chess. I’m not saying they’re grand masters, but I lose games to them all the time. I was not expecting that.”
In addition to playing chess and working on his appeal, Bankman-Fried told Carlson he has started to read novels again. Carlson noted that Bankman-Fried seemed “less jumpy” and “healthier” after two years in prison. The former Fox host then said it seemed like Bankman-Fried was “flying high on Adderall” in his previous TV appearances.
Bankman-Fried denied ever being on the drug. “But I was pretty out of it. My mind was racing because there were, you know, a billion things to keep track of,” he added.
Bankman-Fried described how his politics have evolved over the last five years from being a major Biden donor to having a better relationship with Republicans than Democrats by the time he went to trial.
“One fact that might be relevant. In 2020, I was center-left and I gave to Biden’s campaign,” he said. “I was optimistic he’d be a sort of solid center-left President. I spent the next few years in D.C. a lot. I made dozens of trips there, and was really, really shocked by what I saw — not in a good direction — from the administration.”
“By late 2022, I was giving to Republicans privately as much as Democrats. And that started becoming known right around FTX’s collapse, so that probably played a role,” he added, noting that he believed in ideas from both sides of the aisle.
In his trial, prosecutors showed a document where he considered ways to rehabilitate his public image after FTX collapsed, including going on Carlson’s show to “come out against the woke agenda.” Carlson asked him if he called in political favors during his trial, which Bankman-Fried denied because he didn’t want to do “something inappropriate.”
Bankman-Fried said “hopefully” things are moving in the right direction for cryptocurrency under Trump, noting that there are already a lot of “good things” happening.
“So I think the big question is, you know, when rubber meets the road, like, will the administration do what needs to be done and figure out how to do it?” he said. “Right now, crypto is not at the point where it could become an everyday tool.”
Carlson also asked Bankman-Fried if he believes “there is a lot of shady behavior in the crypto business.” Bankman-Fried said that a decade ago, he may have agreed, but the business is now “a lot smaller” and more regulated.
Carlson asked the former billionaire if he has “any money” left — and Bankman-Fried admitted “basically no.” In addition to his prison sentence, Bankman-Fried was ordered to pay $11 billion in forfeiture.
“The company that I used to own … had nothing intervened, today it would have about $15 billion of liabilities and about $93 billion of assets. So the answer should be, in theory, yes there was enough money to pay everyone back in kind,” he said. “But, that’s not how things worked out. Instead, it all got roiled up in a bankruptcy.”
“It’s been a colossal disaster,” he said. “Not stopping that from happening is by far the biggest regret of my life.”
Bankman-Fried, who spoke with Carlson on Wednesday, said he has no plans. He explained that he was never “big on birthdays on the outside” and was not looking forward to “celebrating another year in prison” for his 33rd birthday on Thursday.
“So you’re not going to tell Diddy it’s your birthday tomorrow? I don’t believe you,” Carlson asked.
Bankman-Fried responded that while he was not planning to tell Combs about his birthday, “someone else might tell him.”
Emirates NBD’s digital banking unit Liv has added cryptocurency trading to its mobile banking app.
This content has been selected, created and edited by the Finextra editorial team based upon its relevance and interest to our community.
The new offering has been introduced in partnership with Aquanow, a global virtual asset service provider licensed by Dubai’s Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority.
London-based digital asset custodian Zodia will provide custody services for the new venture. Emirates NBD made a strategic investment in Zodia Custody in December.
Upon go live, customers will be able to buy, sell and trade cryptocurrencies within the Liv X app, whilst also managing their day-to-day finances.
The UAE is swiftly evolving to become a progressive crypto hub following landmark crypto-friendly policies and the highest cryptocurrency adoption rates in the world. About 30% of the population owns cryptocurrency and the crypto market is expected to increase by 8% year-on-year over the next four years.
Between July 2023 and June 2024, a Chainalysis report estimates the UAE received over $30 billion in crypto, ranking the country among the top 40 globally in this regard and making it Mena’s third-largest crypto economy.
Marwan Hadi, group head of retail banking and wealth management at Emirates NBD, says: “We are excited to introduce our new cryptocurrency offering on Liv X, in partnership with Aquanow, giving customers the opportunity to buy, sell and trade cryptocurrencies conveniently and securely. Offering cryptocurrency on Liv X is the next step towards the overall vision of Liv being a pioneer in innovation and excellence. With the highest crypto adoption rate in the UAE, we are keen to launch our own virtual asset offering to capitalise on this trend.”
Crypto asset manager Bitwise has filed to list a spot Aptos exchange-traded fund in the US — a token created by a team led by two former Facebook (now Meta) employees in 2022.
Bitwise filed an S-1 registration statement to list the Bitwise Aptos (APT) ETF on March 5, eight days after Bitwise indicated it would make such a filing when it registered a trust linked to the Aptos ETF in Delaware on Feb. 28.
The Aptos filing adds to the list of altcoins currently in the line to win the securities regulator’s approval.
Bitwise opted not to include a staking feature for the proof-of-stake powered Aptos blockchain and listed Coinbase Custody as the proposed custodian of the spot Aptos ETF. It has yet to specify which stock exchange it would be listed on.
A proposed fee or ticker wasn’t included either. Bitwise will also need to file a 19b-4 form for its Aptos ETF application and for the SEC to acknowledge it before the 240-day clock begins for the SEC to make a decision.
Source: Aptos
The Aptos filing marks Bitwise’s latest effort to expand from the spot Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) ETFs it currently has on offer. It has also recently filed to list a spot Solana (SOL), XRP (XRP) and Dogecoin (DOGE) ETFs in recent months.
While Bitwise’s other US spot ETF filings have been aimed at the top tokens by market capitalization, Aptos appears to be an outlier, ranking 36th by market capitalization of $3.8 billion, according to CoinGecko.
Aptos was developed by Aptos Labs, a company founded by two former Facebook employees, Mo Shaikh and Avery Ching, in 2021.
It emerged as a potential “Solana killer” when it launched in October 2022 as a high-speed, low-cost layer-1 blockchain. However, its market cap is currently only one-nineteenth the size of Solana’s, CoinGecko data shows.
APT is up 14.4% over the last 24 hours to $6.25, CoinGecko data shows.
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Aptos boasts the 11th largest total value locked among blockchains at $1.03 billion, according to DefiLlama data. Over $830 million of that consists of stablecoins.
Real-world assets such as Franklin OnChain US Government Money Fund (FOBXX) have also been tokenized on the Aptos blockchain.
Bitwise isn’t a stranger to Aptos, having launched an Aptos Staking ETP on Switzerland’s SIX Swiss Exchange in November that offers a 4.7% return on staking yield.
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