The Facts
- The US Dept. of Justice (DOJ) on Wednesday announced it arrested Anatoly Legkodymov, a Russian national who founded the Hong Kong-based crypto exchange Bitzlato. He's been accused of allegedly processing over $700M of illicit funds.
- Bitzlato is accused of transmitting illicit funds and facilitating other crimes through cryptocurrency transactions with Hydra Market — described by DOJ officials as "an anonymous, illicit online marketplace" for activities such as narcotics, money laundering, and stolen financial documents.
- The charges were filed in coordination with actions by the US Treasury Department's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, which says it had prohibited certain Bitzlato fund transmittals after labeling the company a "primary money laundering concern" related to Russian illicit finance.
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The Spin
Pro-establishment narrative
With this arrest, the US is making a stand against those who trade in cryptocurrency and believe they’re above — or skating around — the law. Money laundering, terrorist financing, and other illicit finance will not be tolerated by any financial institution, crypto or otherwise. This is a major blow to the murky world of crypto crime.
Establishment-critical narrative
Despite what you may hear in the news or from politicians, the government is not broadening its investigatory and regulatory reach to combat crypto schemes. On the contrary, people who are making their wealth with crypto are such lavish contributors to political campaigns on both sides of the aisle, they’re unlikely to face much in the way of consequences when they commit fraud or other crimes.
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