The United States Justice Department has recently unsealed charges against two men, 43-year-old Alexey Bilyuchenko and 29-year-old Aleksandr Verner, who are allegedly responsible for the $400 million hack of former Bitcoin exchange Mt. Gox. According to the announcement, the duo conspired to launder 647,000 BTC that they stole from the exchange through a hack of its servers. Additionally, Bilyuchenko is charged with conspiring to operate the BTC-e exchange, which was shut down in 2017 due to money laundering allegations.
The suspected hack occurred over a period of more than a year, from September 2011 until at least May 2014. During this time, both Bilyuchenko and Verner allegedly gained control of a Mt. Gox server located in Japan. They then proceeded to periodically make transfers of BTC from Mt. Gox to themselves, draining the “vast majority” of customers’ BTC from the exchange.
To sell the stolen Bitcoin, the two men entered into an allegedly fraudulent contract with a Bitcoin brokerage firm located in New York. The brokerage firm purchased the stolen BTC from the hackers by sending wire transfers to various offshore bank accounts. Although the Bitcoins remained in the possession of the hackers’ exchange, they were credited to the brokerage firm’s account within it. Prosecutors claim that the pair received approximately $6.6 million from the deal.
Mt. Gox was one of the first major cryptocurrency exchanges and filed for bankruptcy in March 2014 after the hack pushed it into insolvency. BTC-e, on the other hand, operated from 2011 to 2017. In 2017, the FBI liquidated some of its cryptocurrency, claiming that the funds were earned through money laundering. BTC-e’s founder, Alexander Vinnik, is currently serving prison time for his connection with the exchange.
While it’s clear that these two individuals potentially caused significant damage to the cryptocurrency industry and its trustworthiness, could there have been more measures in place to prevent such a massive hack from taking place? The swift action by the US Justice Department shows the continuous efforts to enhance the security of the crypto space and hold those accountable for illegal activities. As the blockchain technology and markets continue to evolve, one can only hope that the security measures will become even more robust to withstand attacks from cybercriminals, ensuring a safer future for all enthusiasts and investors.
Source: Cointelegraph
