BTC-e
| Industry | Fiat / bitcoin exchange |
| Founded | 7 August 2011 |
| Defunct | July 2017 |
| Key people | Alexander Vinnik (alleged operator in 2017 U.S. releases) |
| Parent | Always Efficient LLP (earlier wiki claim) |
BTC-e was a bitcoin exchange that allowed trading bitcoins for fiat and altcoins. Contemporary market pages once treated it as one of the larger "Big Four" venues; one market-share snapshot put it around 2.5% of exchange volume.[1][2]
In July 2017 U.S. authorities announced criminal and civil actions against the exchange and against Alexander Vinnik. Blockchain analysis work published around the same week described BTC-e as a destination for stolen coins from Mt. Gox, Bitcoinica, and Bitfloor.[3]
History
The site was announced on Bitcointalk on 17 July 2011 with test-mode trading. Live trading began on 7 August 2011.[4][5]
On 31 July 2012 the service reported a security incident that halted trading; the exchange said it covered losses from reserves and resumed within hours.[6] In August–September 2012 it added a trading API and additional RUR and USD deposit/withdrawal methods.[7]
The earlier wiki article named Always Efficient LLP as a parent entity and listed Alexander Vinnik among key people. The 2017 U.S. materials below describe Vinnik as an alleged operator.
2017 U.S. indictment
On 26 July 2017 the U.S. Secret Service and partners published that a grand jury in the Northern District of California had indicted a Russian national, Alexander Vinnik, and the organization he allegedly operated, BTC-e, on a 21-count indictment for operating an unlicensed money services business, money laundering, and related crimes, including alleged laundering of funds from the Mt. Gox hack.[8]
The release further alleged that Vinnik was the primary beneficial owner of BTC-e's managing shell company Canton Business Corporation, and that administrator withdrawals went to his personal accounts.[8]
FinCEN civil penalties
On 27 July 2017 the U.S. Treasury's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) announced a civil money penalty of $110,003,314 against BTC-e a/k/a Canton Business Corporation for willful violations of U.S. anti-money laundering laws, and a separate $12 million penalty against Alexander Vinnik for his role in the violations.[9]
FinCEN described BTC-e as a foreign-located money transmitter exchanging fiat and convertible virtual currencies, and alleged facilitation of ransomware, dark-net drug sales, and processing of bitcoin traceable to the Mt. Gox theft.[9]
Criticism
Bitcoin community member Luke-Jr claimed that BTC-e froze his account and funds.
See also
References
- ↑ http://www.coindesk.com/price/ Coindesk BPI (earlier cite)
- ↑ "Bitcoin Exchanges Market Share". Bitcoinity. http://bitcoinity.org/markets/list. Retrieved 2015-02-10.
- ↑ "Breaking open the MtGox case, part 1". Wizsec. http://blog.wizsec.jp/2017/07/breaking-open-mtgox-1.html#more. Retrieved 2017-07-29.
- ↑ Btc-e.com exchange for the exchange of BTC <-> USD
- ↑ Btc-e.com live trading note
- ↑ News / Trade is stopped (historical operator news URL)
- ↑ News / Update commissions deposit & withdrawal (historical operator news URL)
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 U.S. Secret Service / N.D. Cal. announcement, 26 July 2017: Russian National and Bitcoin Exchange Charged in 21-Count Indictment
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 FinCEN, 27 July 2017: FinCEN Fines BTC-e Virtual Currency Exchange $110 Million