Russian Bitcoin Exchange Founder to Be Released by US in Prisoner Swap: Reports

The U.S. will release a crypto criminal as part of a prisoner swap with Russia, according to reports from Reuters and the Wall Street Journal.

Alexander Vinnik, who operated BTC-e, a Bitcoin exchange shut down by the FBI back in 2017 for alleged money laundering, will reportedly be released on Wednesday after Moscow freed American Marc Fogel on Tuesday.

Vinnick last year pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit money laundering.

Decrypt reached out to the Department of Justice for confirmation, but did not immediately receive a response.

BTC-e was a crypto exchange that operated in the United States from 2011 to 2017 and handled an estimated $9 billion in Bitcoin transactions during that time, the DOJ previously said.

The team behind the exchange allowed criminals to trade Bitcoin anonymously and launder dirty funds, per the DOJ.

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Feds also said that Vinnick worked with Alexey Bilyuchenko, who was charged in 2023 with the infamous Mt. Gox hack—once a top crypto exchange that is still in the process of distributing stolen Bitcoin funds back to ex-customers after a massive theft.

Fogel, 63, arrived in the U.S. yesterday as part of the prisoner swap. He had been serving a 14-year sentence for drug smuggling after being caught at a Moscow airport in 2021 with medical marijuana.

Edited by Andrew Hayward

Editor's note: This story was updated after publication with additional details.