31–40 of 256 posts
Earlier quoted context omitted.
BTC-E didn't specifically bar US customer from trading there, so the indictment is on the grounds that their services were offered to US citizens, therefore liable to US Law.
iirc they rejected deposits from any American bank accounts and specifically said they won't work with German or US residents or citizens.
The question for me is: why US? He is a Russian citizen, the company is based in Bulgaria, servers in Russia, legal HQ in Cyprus and all the services operated from Seychelles - arrested in Greece. The MtGox hack affected a Japanese company. I'm not debating the nature of the crimes, etc - I am just wondering, when does it become a US case? I can get the "there were US customers" - but why not Europe? Or Japan? Or Rus…
> If you start a gay social network in US, can Russia come in (the first time you are flying in one of the Russia's partners territories) and say "you are breaking Russian gay laws, you are under arrest"? Yes.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
iirc they rejected deposits from any American bank accounts and specifically said they won't work with German or US residents or citizens.
Don't know if this is recently, but as a US citizen, I've wired funds from an American bank successfully to BTC-e back in 2013.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
BTC-E didn't specifically bar US customer from trading there, so the indictment is on the grounds that their services were offered to US citizens, therefore liable to US Law.
iirc they rejected deposits from any American bank accounts and specifically said they won't work with German or US residents or citizens.
Interesting, I have been using BTC-E for a while, I had no idea this sort of thing happened. Was it knowingly assisted by someone at BTC-E, or did BTC-E just act as a dumb machine? BTC-E was one of the eastiest ways for me to change BTC and LTC in day trading. Are there comparable websites with small fees? I'm not interested in buying with fiat money.
The question for me is: why US? He is a Russian citizen, the company is based in Bulgaria, servers in Russia, legal HQ in Cyprus and all the services operated from Seychelles - arrested in Greece. The MtGox hack affected a Japanese company. I'm not debating the nature of the crimes, etc - I am just wondering, when does it become a US case? I can get the "there were US customers" - but why not Europe? Or Japan? Or Rus…
I still don't understand, the U.S. is charging a Russian with a white collar crime? The crime was committed outside the U.S., he didn't come to the U.S., the servers weren't in the U.S., Mt.Gox was based out of Japan, and Greek police arrested him. I've seen this enough to know this is common, but what is going on with this world?
The question for me is: why US? He is a Russian citizen, the company is based in Bulgaria, servers in Russia, legal HQ in Cyprus and all the services operated from Seychelles - arrested in Greece. The MtGox hack affected a Japanese company. I'm not debating the nature of the crimes, etc - I am just wondering, when does it become a US case? I can get the "there were US customers" - but why not Europe? Or Japan? Or Rus…
The "why" is just "because the DoJ made a case before Europe or Japan". The "how" is just extradition. Greece was willing to extradite him to the US to face these charges. The US would do the same with Greece, though not with Russia as we lack an extradition treaty with Russia (and probably not to face a charge that would be a clear first amendment violation anyway).
Edit: Since my question wasn't clear, the emphasis was on customer, as in: "customers of a business that also engages in money laundering aren't usually considered victims of that money laundering."
I still don't understand, the U.S. is charging a Russian with a white collar crime? The crime was committed outside the U.S., he didn't come to the U.S., the servers weren't in the U.S., Mt.Gox was based out of Japan, and Greek police arrested him. I've seen this enough to know this is common, but what is going on with this world?
Interesting, I have been using BTC-E for a while, I had no idea this sort of thing happened. Was it knowingly assisted by someone at BTC-E, or did BTC-E just act as a dumb machine? BTC-E was one of the eastiest ways for me to change BTC and LTC in day trading. Are there comparable websites with small fees? I'm not interested in buying with fiat money.
The defendant is who run/ran BTC-E, so it's alleged to have come from the very top. The reasons why you found it so easy are probably related to why the US sees it as a criminal enterprise:
> According to the indictment, since its inception, Vinnik and others developed a customer base for BTC-e that was heavily reliant on criminals, including by not requiring users to validate their identity, obscuring and anonymizing transactions and source of funds, and by lacking any anti-money laundering processes.
It continues:
> The indictment alleges BTC-e was operated to facilitate transactions for cybercriminals worldwide and received the criminal proceeds of numerous computer intrusions and hacking incidents, ransomware scams, identity theft schemes, corrupt public officials, and narcotics distribution rings. Thus, the indictment alleges, BTC-e was used to facilitate crimes ranging from computer hacking, to fraud, identity theft, tax refund fraud schemes, public corruption, and drug trafficking. The investigation has revealed that BTC-e received more than $4 billion worth of bitcoin over the course of its operation.