The exchange was previously known as BTC-e, but its name was changed to WEX in 2017 because it encountered legal complications.
Dmitry Vasiliev, the former CEO of the Russian cryptocurrency exchange Wex, has been detained in Warsaw, Poland, according to reports from the BBC Russian service.
Back in the early days of the cryptocurrency business, Wex (formerly known as BTC-e) was a well-known “dark” exchange that traded in bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. In connection with a number of high-profile cryptocurrency thefts, including the infamous Mt. Gox disaster, it is suspected of laundering cash.
Despite the fact that Vasiliev is presumed innocent in Poland, other nations, such as Kazakhstan, have an active fraud case against the elusive figure and, as a result, have apparently begun conversations about the prospect of extradition for the elusive figure.
Vasiliev is believed to have been detained by Polish officials on August 11, but the news of his detention was only revealed by the Polish newspaper Wyborcza on September 17 this year.
Up until the company’s demise in the summer of 2017, Vasiliev is accused of facilitating trades for Chinese investors while working as an employee for BTC-e.
Alexander Vinnik, the accused founder and CEO of BTC-e, has been charged with laundering more than $4 billion in Bitcoin over the course of six years. He was later apprehended in Greece and was the target of an inquiry by the United States government at the time.
Vasiliev took over as director of the relaunched exchange, Wex, just a few months after Vinnik was arrested. Wex went on to establish itself as one of the world’s top-10 exchanges, with a daily trading transaction of $80 million by the end of the calendar year, cementing its position in the Top-10.
However, a little more than a year later, Binance blacklisted Wex for alleged money laundering tactics, a decision that would ultimately lead to the bankruptcy of the cryptocurrency exchange in question.
Vasiliev was apprehended by Italian officials in 2019, however he was quickly released after it was discovered that errors had been made in the extradition request that had been submitted.
Recently, the Bank of Russia began working with local banks to prevent its citizens from making “emotional” purchases on cryptocurrency exchanges, citing the need to safeguard customers from making “emotional” transactions as the basis for the forced intervention.