A co-founder of the Russian-affiliated cryptocurrency exchange Bitzlato said that it would restart and allow partial withdrawals after being seized by Western law officials.
Bitcoin exchange Major Russian-language cryptocurrency news outlets Forklog and Bits.media cited Anton Shkurenko, one of Bitzlato’s founders, as saying in an interview with Satoshkin Live, a Youtube channel dedicated to cryptocurrency investment and trading, that Bitzlato is taking steps to restore operations and immediately allow customers to withdraw bitcoin.
The Hong Kong-registered network was shut down in January as part of a global law enforcement operation, which U.S. authorities have dubbed a “blow to crypto criminality.” It allegedly processed $700 million in illegal cash obtained from criminal organisations like the Russian cryptocurrency Ponzi scheme Finiko and the darknet market Hydra.
French officers were able to grab Bitzlato’s hot wallet, which at the time contained about 35% of the user’s cash in several cryptocurrencies, according to Shkurenko, who was Satoshkin’s host on Dmitry Stepanin.
The executive also refuted claims that the business had engaged in tax evasion and claimed that it had always complied with European rules governing know-your-customer and anti-money laundering requirements while working with law authorities to thwart nefarious actions.
Bitzlato, a cryptocurrency exchange, will relocate to Russia
The co-founder of Bitzlato stated that the company is presently auditing its losses and went on to say that it intends to relocate to Russia and resume its operations under Russian law.
Regarding the return of user cash, Anton Shkurenko promised that on the day the platform is relaunched, users would be able to withdraw 50% of the BTC stored in Bitzlato wallets.
He continued without offering a timeline that holdings in other coins would be distributed gradually.
Following the law enforcement operation, some Bitzlato users in Eastern Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States had their accounts blocked by Binance, the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the world. Binance was one of Bitzlato’s biggest recipients, reportedly processing $346 Million in payments from the platform.