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Alexander Vinnik, a Russian who operated cryptocurrency platform BTC-e, is to be released as part of the exchange that freed American teacher Marc Fogel, according to a US official.
Vinnik, who was arrested in Greece in 2017 and extradited to the US, was accused of laundering billions of dollars’ worth of bitcoin through BTC-e.
He is in custody in Northern California and is awaiting transportation back to Russia.
He must forfeit $100mn as a condition of his release.
“We view this as a fair exchange. This wasn’t the merchant of death for a basketball player,” the official said, in an apparent reference to Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout, who was released by the US in 2022 in exchange for WNBA player Brittney Griner.
This is a developing story