{"id":540699,"date":"2023-01-18T20:07:40","date_gmt":"2023-01-18T17:07:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/bitzlato-and-its-founder-face-enforcement-actions-from-us-authorities\/"},"modified":"2023-01-18T20:07:40","modified_gmt":"2023-01-18T17:07:40","slug":"bitzlato-and-its-founder-face-enforcement-actions-from-us-authorities","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/bitzlato-and-its-founder-face-enforcement-actions-from-us-authorities\/","title":{"rendered":"# Bitzlato and its founder face enforcement actions from US authorities"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_85 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a33a11250985\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a33a11250985\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-1'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/bitzlato-and-its-founder-face-enforcement-actions-from-us-authorities\/#%E2%80%9D_Bitzlato_and_its_founder_face_enforcement_actions_from_US_authorities_%E2%80%9C\" >&#8221; Bitzlato and its founder face enforcement actions from US authorities &#8220;<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h1><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"%E2%80%9D_Bitzlato_and_its_founder_face_enforcement_actions_from_US_authorities_%E2%80%9C\"><\/span>&#8221; Bitzlato and its founder face enforcement actions from US authorities &#8220;<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h1>\n<div class=\"post-content\" data-v-5a4050f8>The United States Department of Justice announced a \u201cmajor international cryptocurrency enforcement action\u201d against crypto firm Bitzlato and the arrest of its founder\u00a0Anatoly Legkodymov.<\/p>\n<p>In a Jan. 18 announcement, U.S. Deputy Attorney <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/general\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"3\" title=\"General\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">General<\/a> Lisa Monaco said authorities had <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.justice.gov\/usao-edny\/pr\/founder-and-majority-owner-bitzlato-cryptocurrency-exchange-charged-unlicensed-money#:~:text=%E2%80%9COvernight%2C%20the%20Department%20worked%20with,founder%2C%20Russian%20national%20Anatoly%20Legkodymov.\">taken<\/a> enforcement actions against Bizlato in coordination with France, seizing Bitzlato\u2019s website and labeling the business as a \u201cprimary money laundering concern\u201d connected to Russian illicit finance. According to Monaco, the Department of Justice worked with the Treasury Department and French law enforcement to take action against Bitzlato for allegedly \u201cconducting a money transmitting business that transported and transmitted illicit funds and that failed to meet U.S. regulatory safeguards.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>As part of the case against Bitzlato, FBI officials arrested Legkodymov, a Russian national based in China, on Jan. 17 in Miami. He is scheduled to be arraigned in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.<\/p>\n<p>U.S. authorities said the criminal complaint against Bitzlato was based on the firm being a \u201ccrucial financial resource\u201d for the Hydra darknet marketplace, allowing users to launder funds including those from ransomware attacks: <\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cHydra Market users exchanged more than $700 million in cryptocurrency with Bitzlato, either directly or through inter<a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/social-mediaa\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"1\" title=\"Social Media\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">media<\/a>ries, until Hydra Market was shuttered by U.S. and German law enforcement in April 2022. Bitzlato also received more than $15 million in ransomware proceeds.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<figure><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/s3.cointelegraph.com\/uploads\/2023-01\/98ab06ad-bdbc-436d-904f-138f797d5dd1.png\" alt=\"\" title=\"\"><figcaption style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>Screenshot of Bitzlato homepage on Jan. 18<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The enforcement action was a coordinated effort across Europe and the U.S. to seize many of Bitzlato\u2019s resources \u2014 including the firm\u2019s servers \u2014 as well as take the founder into custody. Monaco referred to the case as the \u201cmost significant enforcement effort\u201d against an exchange since the National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team was launched in October 2021.<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Related: <\/em><\/strong><strong><em>Cleaning up crypto: How much enforcement is too much?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Assistant Attorney General Kenneth Polite of the Department of Justice&#8217;s criminal division suggested U.S. authorities were \u201cjust getting started\u201d in cracking down on similar firms involved in facilitating money laundering. Though no official directly commented on the ongoing case against crypto exchange FTX and its former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried, Monaco warned against those committing crimes against the U.S. financial system \u201cfrom a tropical island\u201d.<\/p>\n<p><template data-name=\"subscription_form\" data-type=\"law_decoded\"><\/template><\/div>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMLG0nwswvr63Aw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">For forums sites go to <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/forum.buradabiliyorum.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Forum.BuradaBiliyorum.Com<\/a><\/span><\/strong>\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/news\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"2\" title=\"News\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">News<\/a> articles, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/general\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">General category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/news\/us-authorities-seize-crypto-website-bizlato-as-part-of-international-enforcement-action\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8221; Bitzlato and its founder face enforcement actions from US authorities &#8220; The United States Department of Justice announced a \u201cmajor international cryptocurrency enforcement action\u201d against crypto firm Bitzlato and the arrest of its founder\u00a0Anatoly Legkodymov. In a Jan. 18 announcement, U.S. Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco said authorities had taken enforcement actions against Bizlato&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":540700,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/images.cointelegraph.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/format=auto,onerror=redirect,quality=90,width=1200\/https:\/\/s3.cointelegraph.com\/uploads\/2023-01\/0cfee32a-bc3e-4836-805a-cf630229e39a.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[74932,71391,55229,70934,67874],"class_list":["post-540699","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general","tag-crimes","tag-department-of-justice","tag-law","tag-regulation","tag-united-states"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/540699","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=540699"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/540699\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/540700"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=540699"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=540699"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=540699"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}