Alexander Vinnik, the Bitcoin criminal was freed by Donald Trump in a prisoner exchange with Russia. He is a Russian national and IT specialist who became the target of US law enforcement for his involvement in operating BTC-e, a Bitcoin exchange he used to run. Alexander Vinnik was arrested by the US government in 2017 after accusing him of laundering $4 billion in Bitcoin.
He was jailed and recently, Trump freed him and sent him back to Russia in a prisoner swap. Trump has expressed his support for the digital asset industry by freeing crypto crime lords like Ross Ulbricht, the founder of the black market site Silk Road.
Recently, Trump released Alexander Vinnik, another crypto criminal using it as leverage to negotiate the end of Russia’s war with Ukraine. Please keep reading to learn more about who Alexander Vinnik is and what led him to be imprisoned.
Alexander Vinnik and the crypto crimes he is charged with
Alexander Vinnik is a 45-year-old Russian computer expert, who worked at BTC-e, a Russian cryptocurrency exchange from 2011 to 2017. He was accused of his involvement in BTC-e, a bitcoin trading platform that the Justice Department claims was one of the primary ways cybercriminals laundered, transferred, and stored criminal proceedings of their illegal activities. He was also one of the hackers behind the 2014 collapse of Mt. Gox, where they stole over 80,000 Bitcoind from one of the largest crypto exchanges at the time.
Alexander Vinnik was originally arrested in 2017 at the request of the U.S. in a beachside town in Greece. He was considered responsible for aiding cybercriminals in laundering $4 billion dollars using Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies in 2011 and 2017. Later in 2020, he was extradited to France, where he was convicted of money laundering and sentenced to 5 years in prison. In 2022, he was brought to the U.S. where he was again charged with conspiracy to commit money laundering.
However, last year Vinnik pleaded guilty to those charges and served up to 20 years of jail time. He was scheduled to be sentenced in January but in November, the federal judge decided to postpone the sentence until June without a detailed explanation for the delay.
About the BTC-e case
BTC-e was a means for trading Bitcoin against the U.S. dollar or other digital currencies. It was created in 2011 and was known for its lax anti-money laundering and know-your-customer rules. This platform quickly became popular, largest, and most widely used crypto exchange. Even though BTC-e operated inside Russia, most of the customers were from the U.S. which captured the attention of law enforcement agencies like Homeland Security and FBI.
The platform had millions of customers worldwide and helped facilitate cyber crimes like ransomware attacks, identity theft schemes, hacking incidents, corruption of public officials, and narcotics distribution rings. Once Alexander Vinnik was arrested for promoting these illegal activities, the U.S. government shut down the website in 2017 and seized the exchange’s assets.
However, in 2025, Alexander Vinnik was released by Donald Trump. As for what the U.S. got in return for releasing Alexander Vinnik, he was traded for American school teacher Marc Fogel, who had been detained in Russia since 2021 and served 14 years of jail time for charges related to marijuana. Trump released Vinnik to negotiate with Russia in the future.
Conclusion
Alexander Vinnik is a cybercriminal who is accused of his involvement in BTC-e, a trading platform that supports illegal activities. He was responsible for aiding cybercriminals in performing crimes like ransomware attacks, identity theft schemes, hacking incidents, corruption of public officials, narcotics distribution rings, and more.
Vinnik was found guilty and was arrested in 2017 by the U.S. for money laundering. However, Trump released Vinnik who pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit money laundering. He was released as part of an exchange with Russia, freeing an American schoolteacher Marc Fogel, who had charges related to marijuana.
Even though Alexander Vinnik was released, he is still accused of owning and operating one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges in the world- BTC-e. That platform was alleged to facilitate the transfer of billions of dollars in tractions for criminals worldwide.
