Breaking: US Justice Dept Charges 2 Russian In Mt Gox Hack

Crypto Market News: The US Department of Justice on Friday said it unsealed charges related to the hacking of cryptocurrency exchange Mt. Gox in 2011. The charges are also linked to the operation of the cryptocurrency exchange BTC-e, it said in a statement. The defunct crypto exchange has recently been in news over the deadline for repayments to its creditors. The new deadline for the repayments has been extended until October 31, 2023. With the news of repayment, it was earlier speculated that the added Bitcoin could actually have a negative impact on the BTC price.

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The Justice Department explained that two Russian nationals have eventually helped cyber criminals in laundering funds worldwide. The two individuals have been charged with conspiring to launder huge amounts of Bitcoin.

DOJ Charges Mt Gox Hackers

Not only did the two Russians were charged with conspiring to launder Bitcoin, one of them was also charged with conspiring to operate BTC-e, another defunct cryptocurrency trading platform that was shut down in 2017. The Department alleged that since 2011, Alexey Bilyuchenko, 43, and Aleksandr Verner, 29, stole a massive amount of cryptocurrency from Mt. Gox, contributing to the exchange’s ultimate insolvency.

“Bilyuchenko and Verner are charged with conspiring to launder approximately 647,000 bitcoins from their hack of Mt. Gox. Bilyuchenko is also charged with conspiring with Alexander Vinnik to operate BTC-e from 2011 to 2017.”

As and when the Mt Gox creditors start getting their payout, whether the Bitcoin price will have a significant reaction remains to be seen.

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