The alternate cryptocurrency linked Bitzlato, which was seized by the Western law enforcement, plans to relaunch the website and enable partial withdrawals, announced by one of its co-founders. The trading platform team is also aiming to transfer the business to the Russian Federation.
Co-founder assures access to funds for customers
The cryptocurrency alternative Bitzlato is taking actions to restart operations and make it possible for customers to withdraw bitcoins immediately. One of its founders, Anton Shkurenko, shared the details in an interview with Satoshkin Live, a YouTube channel dedicated to trading Bitcoins and other major cryptocurrencies. He was also featured on Russian media Forklog and Bits.media.
In January, a global police operation was launched by the US and Hong Kong to take down the platform registered in the latter. It was called a “blow against cryptocrime,” and it was purported that the platform had processed $700 million in illicit funds from criminal entities such as the Hydra Darknet market and the Russian Finiko crypto Ponzi scheme.
Its other co-founders, Anatoly Legkodymov and a Russian citizen living in China, were arrested in Miami and other members of the team were detained in Europe. The French authorities took over their servers and shut down their website.
Shkurenko was informed by Satoshkin’s host, Dmitry Stepanin, that the French officers had access to Bitzlato’s hot wallet, which stored 35% of the individual’s funds in various cryptocurrencies. Although he did not give a specific amount, he denied that it was more than $1 billion.
The company also denied the allegations that it has evaded taxes and stated that it has always complied with know-your-customer and anti-money-laundering regulations according to European laws and cooperated with law enforcement to prevent illegal activities. He also expressed his hope that the charges will be reduced and detainees will be released soon.
Four Bitzlato staff were taken into custody by Europol and their identities were revealed: former CEO Mikhail Lunev, marketing supervisor Alexander Goncharenko, Pavel Lerner, a contractor who worked on the Monolithos DAO implementation, and a recognized sysadmin Konstantin. The bail was set up in Cyprus.
Bitzlato planning to use cryptocurrency as a way to move to Russia
The co-founder of Bitzlato stated that the company is currently auditing its losses and further revealed that the company plans to relocate to Russia and restart operations under Russian jurisdiction. At the moment, he said that Bitzlato is searching for an infrastructure contractor.
Regarding the reimbursement of customer funds, Anton Shkurenko was certain that customers will be able to withdraw 50% of their BTC from the Bitzlato wallets as soon as the platform is switched on again. He said that altcoins might be released gradually, but he did not specify a timeline.
The world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange Binance was the largest beneficiary of this operation. After reportedly processing $346 million of funds through the platform, it allegedly blocked some Bitzlato accounts for customers in Eastern Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States in the wake of the police action. Later, the leading alternative stated that it had gained access to many of these accounts.
Remember: Bitzlato plans to provide customers with refunds if it restarts operations. Tell us your thoughts in the comments section.
