Hacker and crypto trader Pyotr Levashov, also known as Peter Severa, told cryptonewsherald on January 19 that the main clients of the Bitzlato crypto exchange, one of whose leaders was detained in the United States, were drug addicts.
“They were charged with laundering $700 million in criminal money. Since the investigation cannot separate criminal money from non-criminal money, I believe that this is the entire amount that passed through the wallets that were clearly tied to this exchange. Moreover, the calculation is most likely made at the current exchange rate, ”said the hacker.
According to him, due to the fact that the exchange used various cryptocurrencies, the investigation would not calculate every transaction. In this regard, Levashov suggested that the entire amount of funds that passed through the exchange was taken.
“To claim that all 100% were criminal, I would be afraid in court,” said Levashov.
As the hacker noted, Bitzlato was a rather small exchange, with only $700 million passing through it in five years.
Levashov believes that the main clients of this exchange were drug addicts. Because Bitzlato provided anonymity. The exchange did not require registration with ID cards and photos.
In this regard, the investigation claims that the arrested head of the exchange, Anatoly Legkodymov, knew that Bitzlato’s clients were drug addicts. Otherwise, the exchange would have established user identification, Levashov emphasized.
He believes that in this situation, it is unlikely that it will be possible to fight off the accusations.
Earlier, on January 18, Deputy Attorney General of the United States Lisa Monaco announced that Russian citizen Anatoly Legkodymov, who holds a senior position at the Bitzlato crypto exchange, was detained in Florida. He is accused of handling illegal funds in the amount of more than $700 million. According to Monaco, Bitzlato servers, which are connected to the Hydra darknet market, were discovered and seized as part of a joint effort by law enforcement officers from different countries.
On April 5, 2022, the US Treasury Department placed Hydra on its sanctions list. Most experts agreed that the service was the largest platform for the sale of drugs and stolen data.
Hydra Market has been a platform that has been available since 2015. More than 19 thousand sellers and about 17 million users were registered on the site. According to some estimates, sales of the site in 2020 amounted to €1.23 billion.
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