Crypto Tycoon Just Released Billions of Dollars in Bitcoin from US Custody?

On 12/2, the White House announced that Alexander Vinnik would be released as part of a prisoner exchange with Russia to bring American teacher Marc Fogel home. Vinnik's name had been mentioned in a previous exchange with Russia involving arms dealer Viktor Bout and basketball star Brittney Griner. At that time, the U.S. had proposed a broader exchange, but it was rejected by Russia. Identity of the notorious boss Vinnik is a Russian IT expert accused of attacking BTC-e, a cryptocurrency trading platform with signs of money laundering through Bitcoin. He was arrested in Greece in 2017 at the request of the US government, who believe this engineer must be responsible for money laundering activities worth around 4 billion USD. An indictment against Vinnik mentioned that the BTC-e exchange facilitated cyber attacks, fraud, and theft of user information. Shortly after Vinnik was arrested in Greece, Russia pursued a complex plan to bring him back to the country. Moscow opened a separate criminal case, accusing Vinnik of embezzling about 12,000 USD and requesting extradition to Greece. However, this plan was unsuccessful. By 2020, this Russian citizen was extradited to France, where he was convicted of money laundering and sentenced to 5 years in prison. After serving his sentence in 2022, Vinnik was extradited to the United States with additional charges such as operating a financial business without a license and facilitating fraudulent transactions. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, Vinnik pleaded guilty to money laundering while operating the cryptocurrency exchange BTC-e from 2011-2017. Regulatory authorities also linked his actions to the collapse of Mt. Gox, a leading Bitcoin exchange based in Japan. The U.S. Department of Justice stated in a statement that Vinnik had 'received' the stolen amount from Mt. Gox and laundered them through BTC-e as well as Tradehill, another exchange owned by him based in San Francisco. The reason behind the exchange Frédéric Bélot, Vinnik's lawyer, told the Russian state news agency Tass that his client has been released and the case has been closed. Bélot added that Vinnik will soon be extradited from the US to Russia. "We have actively lobbied with the former government and the new government for Vinnik's release. This could stem from actions such as a presidential pardon, early release, or a prisoner exchange," Vinnik's lawyer Arkady Bukh told Russia's RT television channel. In Russia, officials have welcomed the news and see this as a beneficial move for Russia. Investigative journalist Andrei Zakharov, who has a lot of information about Vinnik, believes that this cybercriminal still controls 80,000 Bitcoins stolen from Mt. Gox many years ago. According to the current exchange rate, this figure will rise to 8 billion USD. Also on 12/2, the White House announced that Belarus had released 3 people, including an unnamed American citizen. Adam Boehler, a US envoy on prisoner issues, said in an interview with CNN that this action may stem from Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko's desire to "win over" President Trump.