Former $BTC-e operator Alexander Vinnik has advised users of the infamous cryptocurrency exchange and its successor, WEX, to seek restitution for their funds from U.S. authorities.
According to the Russian crypto entrepreneur, who returned to his country in a prisoner swap agreement with Washington, the assets of both trading platforms have been seized by the United States.
$BTC-e’s Vinnik forwards client money claims to America
Alexander Vinnik, co-founder of what was once the largest crypto exchange in the Russian-speaking crypto space, $BTC-e, has recommended that clients of the now-defunct platform address requests for the return of their missing funds to the U.S.
The Russian programmer turned crypto businessman admitted he has been receiving a lot of questions regarding the collapse of the exchange and the loss of customer money.
“I understand these are important and sensitive issues,” Vinnik wrote in a Telegram post on Wednesday, offering to clarify key aspects of the current situation.
He explained that after $BTC-e shut down, it was succeeded by a cryptocurrency exchange called WEX, noting that user balances were transferred to the new platform, which continued to operate with them.
Answering what’s likely a common inquiry, Vinnik emphasized, also quoted by the Russian crypto news outlet Bits.media:
“The funds are not in the possession of individuals. All assets were seized by U.S. authorities as part of a criminal case.”
Discussing the possibility of a refund, he suggested that legal action is the way to go, pointing to an ongoing lawsuit that involves the American government.
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The case, filed with the U.S. District Court of the District of Columbia on June 30, 2025, concerns “All virtual currency held in the $BTC-e operating wallets as of July 25, 2017” and other assets.
$BTC-e’s never-ending saga
In its day, $BTC-e was the most popular digital assets exchange with Russian-speaking crypto traders. It ceased operations in 2017 amid U.S. allegations over its role in the processing of up to $9 billion of illicit money, including coins stolen in the hack of another notorious Bitcoin exchange, Mt. Gox.
$BTC-e co-founder Alexander Vinnik was arrested in the Greek city of Thessaloniki in the summer of that year, while on vacation with his family.
Both the United States and the Russian Federation sought his extradition, but Greece decided to first hand him over to France, where he got a five-year sentence in late 2020.
He was eventually transferred to U.S. custody in 2022 and pleaded guilty to money laundering charges in 2024.
In February 2025, Vinnik was released by President Donald Trump’s administration under a prisoner exchange deal with Moscow.
The latter also secured the freedom of Marc Fogel, the American school teacher arrested and sentenced in Russia for drug trafficking.
Commenters challenge Vinnik’s advice
The DC lawsuit concerning the $BTC-e funds opened another chapter in the long saga with the failed cryptocurrency exchange.
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In the fall of 2025, Russian media revealed the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) was trying to take hold of the assets that were in $BTC-e wallets as of the time of its collapse, referring to the same filing.
Giving his two cents on Vinnik’s post, Russian investigative journalist Andrey Zakharov challenged his assertion that the exchange’s funds are all held by the U.S. government
He reminded that Aleksey Bilyuchenko, another co-founder of $BTC-e, and of WEX, which went offline in 2018, had previously testified in Russia that the remaining balances were under his control.
Then, someone else highlighted that WEX didn’t actually close down due to direct U.S. intervention, but after halting withdrawals.
“The collapse looked like an internal management conflict,” pointed out the anonymous commenter using the handle “Herry,” as quoted by Bits.media.
In October, the Telegram channel VChK-OGPU, suspected of links to Russian security forces and currently blocked, claimed that 6,500 $BTC had been moved out of a wallet associated with Bilyuchenko.
