Russia-linked cryptocurrency exchange Bitzlato has started processing withdrawals of digital assets belonging to its clients. The trading platform was shut down in an operation carried out by law enforcement in the US and Europe alleging that it had been used to launder dirty money.
Bitzlato allows withdrawals after being offline for weeks
Users who have deposited funds to Bitzlato can now start withdrawing their coins, the recently seized crypto exchange said in a Telegram message. The announcement comes after a period of more than a month during which the trading platform was unavailable.
The Hong Kong-registered exchange, better known to Russian-speaking traders, was taken down in a coordinated police operation in January when French authorities seized control of its website and American colleagues arrested its co-founder Anatoly Legkodymov.
The US Department of Justice believes that Bitzlato has processed more than $700 million in funds from criminal entities such as the dark web marketplace Hydra and the Russian crypto pyramid scheme Finiko. According to Europol, he exchanged more than a billion dollars of illicit money.
“We were gone for 42 long days, but we are back. A lot of work has gone into making sure your data is safe and coins are in your wallets,” Bitzlato said in the post. He also insisted that it had been used as “a bargaining chip in backstage games.”
In late January, four more members of his team, including three executives, were arrested in European countries. Bitzlato’s other co-founder, Anton Shkurenko, was briefly detained, questioned and released by Russian police in February.
Before that, Shkurenko announced in a Youtube interview that Bitzlato intends to move to Russia and restore operations and withdrawals from there. He also said that French investigators had seized Bitzlato’s hot wallet with more than a third of its assets and commented that the withdrawals were going to be partial at first.
Do you think that the Russian authorities will allow Bitzlato to operate from the country? Share your thoughts on the subject in the comments section below.
image credits: Shutterstock, Pixabay, Wiki Commons
Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only. It is not a direct offer or a solicitation of an offer to buy or sell, or a recommendation or endorsement of any product, service or company. bitcoin.com does not provide investment, tax, legal or accounting advice. Neither the company nor the author is responsible, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any content, goods or services mentioned in this article.
