Share this article
Shuttered Crypto Exchange Bitzlato Says It Plans to Resume Operations: Report
The exchange has been charged by U.S. and European authorities with laundering $700 million in funds tied to Russian criminals.
By Nelson Wang
Updated Feb 10, 2023, 3:19 p.m. Published Jan 31, 2023, 5:19 p.m.
The co-founder of Hong Kong-based crypto exchange Bitzlato, which had been charged with money laundering and had its servers seized in a major international operation earlier this month, said the company plans to resume operating and allow partial withdrawals of user funds, according to Forklog, which summarized a YouTube interview in Russian given by the co-founder.
Anton Shkurenko, whose co-founder Anatoly Legkodymov was arrested in the law enforcement operation along with several other Bitzlato executives, said police had seized the platform’s hot wallet, which contained about 35% of user funds in all cryptocurrencies at the time.
STORY CONTINUES BELOW
But Shkurenko said the exchange would reopen at an unspecified time, and that he could say with “100% certainty” that “we will allow 50% of user funds in bitcoin held in Bitzlato wallets to be withdrawn on the same day we launch. For other cryptocurrencies, the launch will be gradual.”
The previously little-known exchange was charged in mid-January with laundering over $700 million in funds tied to criminals in Russia. Legkodymov is a Russian citizen and majority owner of Bitzlato who was living in China and was arrested in Miami.
The European Union police agency Europol said Bitzlato had exchanged over $1 billion in assets linked to criminal activities.
More For You
What to know:
- As of October 2025, GoPlus has generated $4.7M in total revenue across its product lines. The GoPlus App is the primary revenue driver, contributing $2.5M (approx. 53%), followed by the SafeToken Protocol at $1.7M.
- GoPlus Intelligence's Token Security API averaged 717 million monthly calls year-to-date in 2025 , with a peak of nearly 1 billion calls in February 2025. Total blockchain-level requests, including transaction simulations, averaged an additional 350 million per month.
- Since its January 2025 launch , the $GPS token has registered over $5B in total spot volume and $10B in derivatives volume in 2025. Monthly spot volume peaked in March 2025 at over $1.1B , while derivatives volume peaked the same month at over $4B.
More For You
Citadel Securities and DeFi Waging War of Words Through SEC Correspondence
The investing giant had asked the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to treat DeFi players like regulated entities, and the DeFi crowd pushed back.
What to know:
- A feud conducted over U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) correspondence has developed between Citadel Securities and the DeFi sector, arguing over whether DeFi protocols should be more regulated.
- The DeFi space is calling out the investment firm for its approach to the securities regulator.
Top Stories
