10,000 Bitcoins Withdrawn from Discontinued Cryptocurrency Exchange Wex, Old BTC-e Wallet – Exchange Bitcoin News

For the first time since 2017, large amounts of cryptocurrency held in wallets associated with cryptocurrency exchange Wex, the successor to the notorious trading platform run by alleged money launderer Alexander Vinnik, have moved. Some transactions have been forwarded to the new address.

Bitcoins in Dormant Wex Wallet Moved for First Time in 5 Years

An unknown owner of a bitcoin wallet linked to the now defunct Wex, once the largest cryptocurrency exchange on the Russian-speaking market, has withdrawn 10,000 coins. Funds in this his BTC address were last moved in September 2017 when the same amount was transferred.

Wex was founded that year following the demise of BTC-e. BTC-e closed after one of its operators, his Alexander Vinnik, was arrested in Greece. A Russian IT specialist currently in US custody has been accused of laundering up to $9 billion through exchanges.

Digital money transfers were first brought to the attention of Sergei Mendeleev, founder of cryptocurrency exchange Galantex and CEO of Defibanking platform Indefibank. He revealed the discovery on his Telegram channel, according to a report by his outlet Bits.media, a leading Russian cryptocurrency news outlet. The coin moved on Wednesday, November 23rd.

Several transactions were made, including two small test transfers, before the 10,000 BTC was sent. 3,500 BTC were transferred to his one address and 6,500 BTC to another. It’s probably a changed address. The value of the withdrawn cryptocurrency is over $165 million in fiat currency equivalent at the time of writing.

About $450 million was lost when Wex went offline in 2018. The platform is seen as the successor to his BTC-e, which is said to have processed money from the Mt Gox hack and other cybercrime. It was operated by World Exchange Services, which is based in Singapore and co-founded by Alexei Vilyuchenko, a former partner of BTC-e administrator Alexander Vinnik.

Vinnik was detained in summer 2017 while on vacation in Thessaloniki. In addition to the United States, France and Russia also called for his extradition. In December 2019, Greek authorities extradited him to France, where (considering pretrial detention) he was found guilty of laundering money and he served a five-year sentence. Vinnik was then returned to Greece and quickly transferred to the United States where he now faces multiple charges.

In March of this year, Russian law enforcement detained a cryptocurrency entrepreneur suspected of embezzling funds and property in connection with an unidentified cryptocurrency exchange. At the time, Sergei Mendeleev claimed that the arrested man was none other than Vilyuchenko. His ownership of Wex was exposed in a BBC report.

Another co-owner and former Wex CEO, Dmitry Vasiliev, was arrested in Poland in August 2021 and subsequently released by Polish authorities before returning to Russia. In June 2022, he was also detained at the Zagreb airport upon entering Croatia on a red warrant issued by Interpol at the request of Kazakhstan, where he is wanted on fraud charges.

Last November, Mendeleev revealed that Russia’s Ministry of Internal Affairs did not comply with Wex users’ requests to help block and seize crypto assets that had been removed from wallets managed by the exchange. A substantial amount of over 10,000 ETH was withdrawn and transferred to other platforms.

Who do you think withdrew cryptocurrencies from wallets linked to Wex and BTC-e? Share your thoughts on this case in the comments section below.

Lubomir Tasev

Lubomir Tasev, a tech-savvy journalist from Eastern Europe, loves what Hitchens says. In addition to cryptocurrencies, blockchain, and fintech, international politics and economics are sources of inspiration.