Bitcoin Exchange BTC-e Will Launch ‘Daily’ Updates in Anticipation of the Re-Launch

| Updated
by Polina Chernykh · 3 min read
Bitcoin Exchange BTC-e Will Launch ‘Daily’ Updates in Anticipation of the Re-Launch
Phtoto: Tawhai Moss / Flickr

Bitcoin exchange BTC-e is planning the platform’s re-launch in September, cites pressure from US government as a reason for the recent shutdown.

The Russia-based cryptocurrency trading platform ,BTC-e, has announced that it is preparing to publish additional updates about the recovery process, after being closed by US authorities.

The exchange stopped operations earlier this summer following the arrest of its operator Alexander Vinnik. The man was detained by Greek police at the request of the US authorities which accused him of money laundering and illegal money transactions. Besides, a group of bitcoin security specialists, known as WizSec, alleged that Vinnik has been involved in the hacks of Mt.Gox and Bitcoinica exchanges.

The exchange’s domain name has been officially seized by US law enforcement agencies. According to the US Department of Justice, the exchange operators had received more than £3 billion in bitcoin since its establishment in 2011. In late July, the US Treasury Department announced a $110 million fine against BTC-e and a separate $12 million fine against Vinnik. The indictment claimed that BTC-e facilitated transactions for cybercriminals worldwide and received the criminal proceeds of numerous hacking incidents, identity theft schemes, ransomware scams, and narcotics distribution.

However, a few days after the closure of the exchange, BTC-e published an update saying that it is planning to become functional again and promising to return money to individuals who have held funds at the time of the shutdown.

The platform is also going to create a credit card debt token to pay users back. “You can trade them at any price, but no more than their face value. We pledge to redeem all the tokens. You can also sell your tokens to other users and get a currency, or wait and exchange tokens at face value,” the company announced earlier.

Additionally, BTC-e noted that Vinnik was not an employee of the exchange and thus wasn’t involved in its operation. Still, many doubted these statements, especially in view of the recent Wizsec investigation showing that Vinnik had allegedly participated in many crimes.

According to a new message published on Bitcointalk forum, starting August 30 the exchange is going to post new updates each day. Currently, it is in the process of transferring digital resources to an investment company and is preparing the resource for relaunch.

As the company informed earlier, BTC-e will allow users to withdraw 55% of the funds once the service is launched. The exchange is also going to publish a “FAQ” in the near future, which was postponed because the company can’t release it until the investigation is finished. BTC-e hopes to come online this September.

“We want to notify all users that there is a political background in closing our service and pressure from the U.S.,” the company wrote.

Many of the forum’s visitors left negative comments, with some calling the whole situation a circus. “There was a problem, and we will try to solve it in the shortest possible time,” the exchange replied.

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