Edit: BTC-e — CryptoScamsWiki

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## Summary

BTC-e was a cryptocurrency exchange that operated from 2011 until July 2017. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, it was "one of the primary ways by which cyber criminals around the world transferred, laundered, and stored" criminal proceeds, processing more than $9 billion across over a million users. [1][2]

## How it operated

The DOJ said BTC-e did not register as a U.S. money services business and ran no know-your-customer or anti-money-laundering controls, collecting virtually no customer identification — which made it attractive for laundering. It received funds from computer intrusions, ransomware, identity theft, corrupt officials, and narcotics sales, and used shell companies to process fiat conversions. [1][2]

## Link to Mt. Gox

BTC-e was tied to the collapse of the Mt. Gox exchange: investigators say roughly 300,000 BTC stolen from Mt. Gox were laundered through BTC-e. The platform was shut down in July 2017, the same time operator Alexander Vinnik was arrested in Greece. [2]

## Outcome

In 2017 FinCEN fined BTC-e $110 million and Vinnik $12 million. Vinnik was extradited to the U.S. in 2022 and pleaded guilty to a money-laundering conspiracy in May 2024; the DOJ said he was responsible for at least $121 million in losses. [1][2]

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