Poland

Study: Switzerland Has ‘the Most Profitable Bitcoin Traders’ Worldwide, While France ‘Is the Best Bitcoin Trading Nation’

20/04/2022 by Idelto Editor

According to a recent study published by the online investing news and education platform Invezz, Switzerland currently has the most profitable bitcoin traders worldwide. That’s according to data stemming from Chainalysis, Worldometers, and Triple A, which helped Invezz assign each country a score in terms of the most profitable bitcoin trading by country.

Researchers Rank the Best Bitcoin Trading Nations and the Most Profitable Bitcoin Traders by Country

This week, invezz.com researchers published a study that looks at the most profitable bitcoin traders by country by leveraging statistics from multiple datasets. The study’s author Dan Ashmore explained one dataset stemmed from Chainalysis, which shows the top 25 countries in the world by realized bitcoin (BTC) gains in 2020.

This served as the study’s backdrop, as the invezz.com research team also utilized statistics from Worldometers and Triple A. While the data shows Switzerland currently has the most profitable bitcoin traders worldwide, France is the top country in terms of “the best bitcoin trading nation.”

“[France] ranked 12th in the percentage of the country invested in crypto (3.3%), but an impressive third and eighth respectively in bitcoin gains per capita and bitcoin gains per investor, at $275 and $13 respectively,” Ashmore’s report explains. “While a lot of other countries placed well in certain categories, France was the only country to be above average in all three metrics.”

Invezz.com Study: ‘France Claims the Title of Best Bitcoin Traders, Switzerland Has the Most Profitable Traders at $1,268 of Gains per Investor’

Following France on the list of countries, the Czech Republic and Belgium are second and third in terms of the best bitcoin trading nations. Then there’s Canada, Netherlands, Switzerland, Germany, Australia, United Kingdom, United States, Spain, Japan, Ukraine, South Korea, and Italy respectively. Other notable countries included Argentina, Vietnam, Poland, Russia, Thailand, Brazil, Turkey, and India. Out of all the countries listed, Switzerland’s bitcoin traders ruled the roost as far as BTC gains are concerned.

“Switzerland has the most profitable traders at $1,268 of gains per investor, however with only 1.8% of the country invested in crypto, they get knocked down to a sixth-place finish. The Czech Republic is similar,” the invezz.com study details. But both Switzerland and the Czech Republic are much lower on the list than France for specific reasons. “Switzerland and Czech Republic ranking 23rd and 21st respectively, out of 24 countries, for the percentage of population invested in crypto (1.8% and 2.2%), [it] ultimately kills their chances,” Ashmore’s report says. The invezz.com researcher concludes:

It is France [that claims] the title of best bitcoin traders. But there must be something in the water in mainland Europe, because their dominance of the top of the table is clear.

What do you think about invezz.com’s study and the results that show the most profitable bitcoin traders by country? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below.

Ex-Head of Crypto Exchange Wex Released in Poland

01/01/2022 by Idelto Editor

Former chief executive of the Russian cryptocurrency exchange Wex, Dmitry Vasiliev, has been released from arrest in Warsaw earlier this month. The ex-head of the now-defunct coin trading platform has since returned to Russia while court proceedings against him in Poland are still ongoing.

Polish Court Rejects Extradition of Wex Executive to Kazakhstan

Authorities in Poland have released Dmitry Vasiliev, the man who was at the helm of Wex, once Russia’s largest cryptocurrency exchange. The 34-year-old native of Belarus was detained at the Warsaw airport on Aug. 11, initially for a period of 40 days but he remained in custody for almost four months.

Vasiliev told the Russian business news portal RBC that he was allowed to leave on Dec. 7 and has since returned to Russia where he resides. His Polish lawyer further explained that the court has dismissed his extradition to Kazakhstan but is yet to make a final decision on his case.

The former Wex executive was arrested after the disappearance of $450 million from accounts linked to the exchange. According to the Polish daily Gazeta Wyborcza, the exchange’s management is responsible for the loss of money that belonged to citizens of EU member states, including Poland, and other countries.

Wex launched in September of 2017 and is regarded as the successor of the notorious BTC-e exchange. The latter ceased activities earlier that year, following the detention in Greece of one of its alleged operators, Alexander Vinnik, who was apprehended on a U.S. warrant.

American prosecutors accuse the Russian IT specialist of laundering up to $9 billion through BTC-e. He was sentenced to five years in prison by France last December. French judicial authorities also rejected his extradition to Russia, where he is implicated in other crimes.

Dmitry Vasiliev was also detained in Italy, in the summer of 2019, on a request from Interpol in connection with the criminal case against him in Kazakhstan where he is wanted on fraud charges. Then, in August of the same year, Italian authorities released Vasiliev despite ongoing criminal proceedings against him in a number of other countries such as Russia, Belarus and China.

In September, reports revealed that 100 ETH had been withdrawn from a Wex wallet, the first movement of the funds in three years. The remaining balance of 9,916 ETH, worth $30 million at the time, was also transferred to a new address a few days later. In November, the Russian interior ministry, MVD, was accused of failing to act on a request from victims of the exchange to seize its assets.

What are your thoughts on the release of the former Wex executive Dmitry Vasiliev? Tell us in the comments section below.

Poland Confirms Arrest of Former Wex Exchange Executive in Warsaw

21/09/2021 by Idelto Editor

Reports of the detention of Dmitry Vasiliev, ex-head of the bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange Wex, have been confirmed by authorities in Poland. The former executive of the platform, allegedly involved in the theft of funds worth millions of dollars, faces possible extradition to Kazakhstan.

Prosecutor’s Office Confirms Vasiliev Is in Custody in Poland

Dmitry Vasiliev, who once managed the largest Russian crypto exchange, was apprehended at the Warsaw airport in early August but the Polish newspaper Gazeta Wyborcza broke the news last week, quoting undisclosed sources. A representative of the regional Prosecutor’s Office in the capital city has now confirmed the arrest to Russia’s RIA Novosti news agency.

The 34-year-old Russian citizen headed the now-defunct Wex, a successor of the infamous BTC-e exchange, before it was sold to a Ukrainian businessman-turned separatist fighter, Dmitry Havchenko, in late 2018. The digital asset trading platform halted withdrawals earlier that year and eventually went bankrupt.

While Vasiliev officially owned Wex’s Singapore-based operator, the BBC Russian Service has previously revealed that Wex belonged to Aleksey Bilyuchenko, a partner of BTC-e alleged administrator Alexander Vinnik. The Russian IT specialist, accused of laundering up to $9 billion through BTC-e, was sentenced this past December to five years in prison by France which rejected Vinnik’s extradition to Russia.

Polish police detained the former Wex CEO with help from Interpol, the International Criminal Police Organization. The Warsaw Prosecutor’s Office official noted that a “request for the extradition of Dmitry V. was sent by Kazakhstan.” Vasiliev is wanted in the Central Asian country since 2019 on accusations of fraud related to the exchange. Poland is yet to decide whether to hand him over.

The crypto entrepreneur has been in custody since Aug. 11, when Polish authorities placed him under temporary arrest for an initial period of 40 days. Dmitry Vasiliev is suspected of involvement in the disappearance of $450 million worth of assets belonging to citizens of EU member states and other countries around the world.

On Monday, someone ordered the transfer of 9,916 ETH, worth over $30 million, from a wallet belonging to Wex, crypto news outlet Forklog reported. The transaction, still pending confirmation at the time of writing, has been initiated after 100 ETH were withdrawn from the wallet on Sept. 15. The publication noted that was the first movement of funds in the wallet in the past three years.

Do you expect other countries to request Dmitry Vasiliev’s extradition? Tell us in the comments section below.

Ex-Head оf Wex Crypto Exchange Reportedly Arrested in Poland, Faces Extradition to Kazakhstan

19/09/2021 by Idelto Editor

Dmitry Vasiliev, former chief executive of Russian cryptocurrency exchange Wex, has been detained in Warsaw, the Polish press reported. Vasiliev is wanted in Kazakhstan where he is accused of fraud related to the now defunct trading platform, successor of the infamous BTC-e exchange.

Former Wex Executive in Polish Custody as Prosecutor’s Office Reviews Extradition Request

Ex-owner and CEO of Wex Dmitry Vasiliev was detained at the Warsaw airport on Aug. 11, the leading Polish newspaper Gazeta Wyborcza revealed this week. According to sources quoted by the publication, the 34-year-old native of Belarus has been placed under arrest for 40 days.

Poland’s National Public Prosecutor’s Office is now considering his extradition to Kazakhstan. Authorities in the Central Asian country have been looking for Vasiliev through Interpol for several years as part of ongoing investigation on fraud charges.

In its report on the case, the BBC Russian Service said Polish police had declined to comment on the information about the case. However, rumors of Vasiliev’s detention have been circulating among Wex’s clients since August and a close acquaintance of his has confirmed to the BBC that he was indeed in Polish custody.

This isn’t Dmitry Vasiliev’s first arrest in Europe. Two years ago, he was detained in Italy but managed to eventually return to the Russian Federation where he resided permanently in the city of Saint Petersburg. Italian authorities released him after several weeks in detention, citing faults in his extradition request.

Dmitry Vasiliev’s BTC-e Connection

Wex, once the largest crypto trading platform in the Russian-speaking world, was launched in the fall of 2017 as a successor of BTC-e. The infamous exchange closed down earlier that year following the arrest of one of its alleged operators, Alexander Vinnik, in Greece. Vinnik is accused by the U.S. of laundering up to $9 billion through BTC-e. He was sentenced to five years in prison by a French court in December.

According to the Russian business news portal RBC, Wex had reached a daily turnover of $80 million before it went offline. In 2018, its operator, the Singapore-based entity World Exchange Services, was sold to Dmitry Havchenko, an entrepreneur from Kyiv turned separatist fighter in Eastern Ukraine. While Dmitry Vasiliev was the company’s official owner, BBC claims Wex actually belonged to Aleksey Bilyuchenko, Vinnik’s partner at BTC-e.

After being in and out of service for months, during which it also changed its web address several times, Wex halted withdrawals in the summer of 2018 and later went bankrupt. According to estimates by a group of Wex users quoted by Forklog, total losses exceed $400 million with Vasiliev himself suspected of withdrawing $200 million. He is wanted in Kazakhstan after a trader from Almaty turned to local law enforcement accusing the Belarusian of stealing $20,000 worth of funds through Wex.

According to the report, 100 ETH have been recently withdrawn from a wallet belonging to Wex that has a remaining balance of over 9,900 ETH. The digital currency was transferred to Binance, the first such transaction in the past three years. In 2018, the world’s leading crypto exchange blocked an account that had received 93,000 ETH from wallets associated with Wex.

Do you expect Poland to extradite former Wex executive Dmitry Vasiliev to Kazakhstan? Tell us in the comments section below.

IT Specialist Caught Mining Cryptocurrency at Police Headquarters in Poland

01/08/2021 by Idelto Editor

Polish police have uncovered a secret crypto mining operation at their headquarters in Warsaw, local media reported. An IT specialist accused of minting digital coins on police computers has been dismissed and the case has been handed over to the Prosecutor’s Office.

Polish Police Force Fires IT Specialist for Crypto Mining at Work

Officers from the Polish National Police have found what local media described as a crypto mining farm at the Policja headquarters in Warsaw. The mining operation was allegedly organized by an IT technician, a civilian employee of the law enforcement agency, tvn24.pl news portal reported quoting two independent sources.

The crypto miner used police computers that he upgraded with video cards and specialized software. Although the mining equipment has probably consumed a serious amount of electricity due to the energy-intensive coin minting process, the biggest worry is that records from the police database might have been leaked, one of the sources noted.

The computer network stores a lot of confidential information such as reports from collaborators and digital files. Police officials insist their database has not been compromised and no breaches of the internal Police Data Transmission Network have been detected so far.

The IT specialist has been fired and the contract of another employee, whose role has not been revealed yet, will also be terminated. Inspector Mariusz Ciarka, a National Police Command (KGP) spokesman, confirmed to Gazeta Wyborcza that the crypto miner has been dismissed immediately. He also commented:

The device he used was not connected to any database, and the case largely concerns the theft of electricity consumed by the so-called ‘cryptocurrency mining.’

The Polish police representative added that the case has already been transferred to the District Prosecutor’s Office in Warsaw as the investigation continues in order to establish if a crime has been committed. Experts are now working to assess the losses for the police service in terms of the amount of electricity used to mine digital currencies.

What to do you think about the crypto mining operation uncovered at the Polish police headquarters in Warsaw? Let us know in the comments section below.