Alexander Vinnik, the 41-year-old Russian founder and operator of the now-defunct BTC-e cryptocurrency exchange has been sentenced to 5 years in a French prison. The court also fined him 100,000 euros or $121,270 U.S. dollars.
The now-disgraced Russian was arrested in July 2017 while on vacation in Greece. He was there until he was finally extradited to France earlier this year. The U.S. and Russia also filed competing extradition requests with Greece.
Vinnik was one of seven Russians who were detained or indicted between 2017-2018 on U.S. charges of cybercrimes including ransomware attacks and money laundering. During that time the U.S. was trying to close down the Silk Road darknet which was used by international criminals.
BTC-e cryptocurrency exchange hotbed of cybercrime
The U.S. and other countries believe that Vinnick operated the BTC-e website. It is one of the first and most popular digital-currency exchanges where global customers bought and sold bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.
