BTC-E Attracts Ransomware Money Launderers
Ransomware attacks have been around for a while, but appear to be more prevalent lately. The latest well-known attack was the Petya ransomware attack that required victims to pay the ransom in bitcoin to have their files restored. As a crypto enthusiast myself, I was curious to know where the bitcoins were being held and how they would be converted in to a fiat currency, or if they ever would be.
Well, we got our answer today.
A Russian national named Alexander Vinnik (picture above) was arrested in Greece this morning on suspicion of laundering criminal funds by switching the extorted bitcoins to fiat using BTC-e. Here is the kicker, Alexander Vinnik is a key person behind the BTC-e crypto-currency exchange. BTC-e, is one of the oldest exchanges, and has some what of a legendary status. BTC-e has yet to comment on the situation.
It is interesting that BTC-e has been experiencing issues this week, could this have been the authorities intervening?
With so much FUD in the market surrounding bitcoin forks, and the SEC investigationg DAO tokens, and now more distrust in exchanges it will be interesting to see how the market responds. Personally, I can't wait for it all to settle down, I'm all FUDed out. 🙈