Jesus Christ, what a bloody shitshow. Every party is in the wrong here, and everyone has fucked up.
The individuals and customers for storing such large amounts of crypto-currencies on a centralized exchange.
The exchange for complying and not taking measures to keep their users safe.
The government for seizing funds that are not there, and there's a huge chance that a lot of the funds have been "diverted" and we see some random people suddenly get rich overnight...
Topic: [2019-11-18] Russian Intelligence FSB Linked to $450 Million in Missing Bitcoin - page 2. (Read 255 times)
November 18, 2019, 01:09:25 AM
November 17, 2019, 11:28:52 PM
This is a truly sad story. This staggering WEX failure illustrates two big things: One, it is truly dangerous to rely on a centralized exchange especially one that is based in a "rogue" country like Russia where the law is the government and you must comply what authorities are ordering you to otherwise our life can be hinging on it. This is my way of saying that we should never trust any exchange based on Russia or any similar countries. I am not wondering why Binance relocated itself to Malta away from Hong Kong which is now under the China regime. Two, this is clearly a display of the power of the government to confiscate and corrupt anything that is under its control. Remember that "Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely." Though this can be the case even in democratically-leaning countries, the difference is that in controlled countries they are not that free to expose the corruptions happening in higher places.
November 17, 2019, 09:51:29 PM
There might be more behind this story. Why would Russian intelligence claim and collect Wex funds randomly?
I have said before that some exchanges might be created for money laundering with the help of criminal organizations. I did not think of intelligence agencies however hehehe.
In late 2018, Russian-based crypto exchange WEX collapsed amidst accusations of money-laundering the disappearance of hundreds of millions of dollars in bitcoin and other cryptoassets. According to a BBC report published Nov. 15, the Russian FSB intelligence agency may have played a role in misappropriating the lost funds.
WEX was previously known as BTC-e before being shut down in 2017 by international authorities for its alleged involvement in money-laundering activities. Alexander Vinnik, the exchange’s alleged operator, was arrested at the time and accused of laundering more than $4 billion in cryptocurrency since the exchange’s launch in 2011.
According to the BBC report, WEX/BTC-e co-founder Alexey Bilyuchenko says he was forced to hand over information about customer’s digital wallets to members of the FSB in 2018, which the intelligence agency allegedly used to obtain more than $450 million in user funds.
Bilyuchenko reportedly received multiple calls threatening to close the WEX exchange if he did not comply. According to the report, the WEX co-founder was taken to FSB offices in Moscow over the course of three days in April 2018, where he handed over flash drives containing details on accessing exchange user funds.
Bilyuchenko says he was told that WEX client money would be transferred to the “FSB Russia Fund.” Several months after handing over the data, WEX froze customer funds and withdrawals, before completely shutting down in late 2018.
Read in full https://www.cryptoglobe.com/latest/2019/11/russian-intelligence-agency-fsb-linked-to-450-million-in-missing-wex-crypto/
I have said before that some exchanges might be created for money laundering with the help of criminal organizations. I did not think of intelligence agencies however hehehe.
In late 2018, Russian-based crypto exchange WEX collapsed amidst accusations of money-laundering the disappearance of hundreds of millions of dollars in bitcoin and other cryptoassets. According to a BBC report published Nov. 15, the Russian FSB intelligence agency may have played a role in misappropriating the lost funds.
WEX was previously known as BTC-e before being shut down in 2017 by international authorities for its alleged involvement in money-laundering activities. Alexander Vinnik, the exchange’s alleged operator, was arrested at the time and accused of laundering more than $4 billion in cryptocurrency since the exchange’s launch in 2011.
According to the BBC report, WEX/BTC-e co-founder Alexey Bilyuchenko says he was forced to hand over information about customer’s digital wallets to members of the FSB in 2018, which the intelligence agency allegedly used to obtain more than $450 million in user funds.
Bilyuchenko reportedly received multiple calls threatening to close the WEX exchange if he did not comply. According to the report, the WEX co-founder was taken to FSB offices in Moscow over the course of three days in April 2018, where he handed over flash drives containing details on accessing exchange user funds.
Bilyuchenko says he was told that WEX client money would be transferred to the “FSB Russia Fund.” Several months after handing over the data, WEX froze customer funds and withdrawals, before completely shutting down in late 2018.
Read in full https://www.cryptoglobe.com/latest/2019/11/russian-intelligence-agency-fsb-linked-to-450-million-in-missing-wex-crypto/
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