Alexander Vinnik, a former Bitcoin exchange admin, who is also a Russian cryptocurrency expert, may be the key to unlocking a U.S. investigation over Russia’s interference with American politics. Presently, three countries are fighting to extradite Alexander Vinnik. These countries are France, the U.S., and Russia.
The Russian government led by Vladimir Putin has apparently threatened to retaliate against Greece in case he doesn’t return to Russia. Greece detained Vinnik last year after the U.S. prosecutors accused him of leading BTC-e, a crypto exchange.
The exchange allegedly facilitated the money laundering worth $9 billion for criminal enterprises, including Fancy Bear, hacking unit. According to the Mueller probe, this is an alias for the Russian military intelligence officers who were allegedly involved in releasing and stealing Democrats’ emails.
It will be decided by the Supreme Court of Greece next week to which country, the former Bitcoin exchange admin, Vinnik will be handed over. In case the Supreme Court favors both Russia’s and France’s pleas, the justice minister, Greece will have the final say on it. The minister will also be examining a political asylum request submitted by Vinnik.
Vinnik’s insights may prove to be highly valuable to the U.S. investigation of election meddling. This may be however threatening to Russia’s claim of innocence. However, Vinnik isn’t the only Russian crypto expert in this, as stated in the NewsBTC report.
Charged with hacking Dropbox and LinkedIn in 2012, Peter Levashov and Yevgeniy Nikulin were both extradited to the U.S. from Spain and the Czech Republic respectively. In an interview, Vinnik, however, denied the accusations and in fact accused the U.S. of kidnapping him.
Vinnik’s BTC-e exchange has been accused by American investigators of completely sidestepping all AML and KYC guidelines. The exchange allowed customers to anonymously move money by asking for only an email address and a password, as stated in the CCN report.
The former Bitcoin exchange admin’s lawyer, however, argued that the cryptocurrency expert was not running the BTC-e exchange. The lawyer further added that Vinnik’s profile did not include anti-money laundering and know your customer roles.
The post Key To Unlocking Investigation Over Russia’s Interference With American Politics: Former Bitcoin Exchange Admin appeared first on OWLT Market.
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