polish

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In September, reports revealed that 100 ETH had been withdrawn from a Wex wallet, the first movement of the funds in three years.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.

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.

Singaporean and Eastern European P2P Markets Post Record BTC Volume

06/02/2019 by Idelto Editor

Singaporean and Eastern European P2P Markets Post Record Volume

Several markets have seen spikes in peer-to-peer (P2P) volume, with the Kazakh and Singaporean Localbitcoins markets posting their second strongest weeks on record. Polish P2P trade also increased this past week, with volume reaching a 14-month high.

Also Read: Leaked Documents Suggest Mt. Gox Trustee’s Bitcoin Sales Impacted Market Prices

Singaporean P2P Trade Sees Spike

The current BTC price action appears to have driven an uptick in Localbitcoins trade volume across diverse markets, with many traders likely preparing for the various scenarios that may play out as BTC tests support near the low of 2018’s bear market.

Singapore’s P2P market was among those to see a significant spike in volume this past week, with approximately 145 BTC changing hands on Localbitcoins during the week of Feb. 2.

When measured in fiat currency, the week comprised the strongest seven days of trade activity between the Singapore dollar (SGD) and BTC, with 683,302 SGD (nearly US$504,000) worth of trades taking place on Localbitcoins.

Eastern European Localbitcoins Trade Rallies to Pre-2018 Volume Levels

Following a recent surge in Russian P2P trade, other Eastern European markets have seen an increase in trade activity amid BTC’s expected retest of the $3,000 resistance area.

Kazakh Localbitcoins trade saw the second largest number of BTC change hands in a week on record, with 22 BTC worth of trade.

The week of Feb. 2 also comprised the 10th strongest on record, producing 28.36 million Kazakhstani tenge ($75,000) worth of trade.

The Polish Localbitcoins market posted a 14-month high for trade volume, with 23 BTC ($77,000) worth of trade taking place between Polish zloty and BTC.

Venezuelan P2P Market Continues to Post Record Volume

A record number BTC changed hands via the Venezuelan Localbitcoins market this past week, with approximately 2,004 BTC (roughly $6.75 million) worth of trade.

Venezuelan P2P trade also posted record volume when measured in fiat currency for the fourth consecutive week, with roughly 17.34 billion Venezuelan bolivars worth of BTC trading on the platform during the week of Feb 2.

Which national market do you expect will be the next to see Venezuela-esque cryptocurrency adoption? Share your thoughts in the comments section below!

Images courtesy of Shutterstock, Coin.dance

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The Daily: Crypto Startups Licensed in Poland, Bank Trials Cryptocurrency Wallet

24/01/2019 by Idelto Editor

The Daily: Crypto Startups Licensed in Poland, Dutch Bank Offers Coin Storage

In this edition of The Daily, the Polish financial watchdog has authorized two crypto companies to operate as payment service providers and a bank in the Netherlands now offers crypto storage to its clients. Also, recently leaked images show the long-awaited Samsung S10 may indeed come with a cryptocurrency wallet.

Also read: Huobi Downsizes, New OTC Desk to Launch in US

Poland Grants Licenses to Coinquista and Bitclude

The Polish Financial Supervision Authority, Komisja Nadzoru Finansowego (KNF), has licensed two crypto startups as payment providers. The companies, Coinquista and Bitclude, offer a number of services related to cryptocurrency such as digital asset exchange platforms and crypto wallets.

Although the license does not explicitly mention these products, the regulator explained that the two startups will be able to provide a variety of payment services and solutions for customers in Poland, Finance Magnates reported. That includes accepting cash deposits and withdrawals.

Furthermore, Coinquista and Bitclude will be authorized to process payment transactions, transfer funds, and execute direct debits. Under their licenses, the crypto companies will also be allowed to use payment cards and issue payment instruments.

According to Coinquista CEO Ireneusz Pukin, KNF‘s decision to register his company as a payment service provider proves the exchange can run legal business in Poland. Pukin also believes the move is an indication that the financial watchdog is not against activities such as those Coinquista is associated with.

In the past year, authorities in Poland took steps to regulate certain aspects of the crypto space without banning cryptocurrencies and related operations. In November, amendments to the country’s income tax regulations were introduced to incorporate the taxation of profits from crypto transactions.

(UPDATED) ABN Amro Mulling Crypto Storage Service

ABN Amro, a bank based in the Netherlands, has introduced storage infrastructure for digital assets, Dutch media and crypto news outlets reported, quoting social media posts including comments from the bank’s official Twitter account. According to the initial reports, the financial institution had 500 clients involved in the experimental service, still in testing mode.

A promotional photo showing what looks like a mobile wallet app called ‘Wallie’ was shared on Twitter with the author of the post asking in Dutch “Is this true?” to which ABN Amro replied “Hi! Yes! Did you receive this message? We are currently doing an experiment with 500 customers. :)”. The slogan on the pic read “Manage your bitcoins easily and reliably” and had a “Let’s go!” button below it.

@ABNAMRO is dit waar. #wallie #btc #bitcoin pic.twitter.com/BDKN18vOdm

— Roy Hendriks (@Rw_Hendriks) January 22, 2019

Quoting “representatives of the bank,” Forklog reported that its platform ensures secure storage for the private keys of users’ crypto wallets. ABN Amro is said to provide guarantees for digital assets worth up to €6,000 (~$6,800) that are kept with the bank. The crypto storage solution was supposedly integrated with ABN Amro’s online banking interface used by its clients for regular transactions.

Later, a spokesperson for the bank was quoted by the Dutch online edition AD as saying: “We now ask customers what they think of such a thing. That’s all. There is no Wallie, no concrete wallet. Only an investigation.”

The news outlet also posted another comment from ABN Amro’s employees maintaining the bank’s Twitter account. Loosely translated, the post read: “ABN Amro notices that more and more customers are investing in this [in crypto]. Research shows that some of these customers are concerned about the safety of storage, they hear a lot about hacks and exchanges and the loss of codes. We want to be a trusted partner in this.”

* This section of The Daily has been updated.

Leaked Images Show Galaxy S10 Has a Crypto Wallet

Samsung’s long-awaited anniversary edition phone, the Galaxy S10, may indeed feature a cryptocurrency wallet. The extra has been the subject of much debate and speculation but newly leaked images on social media appear to confirm this functionality has been added.

The flagship mobile device of the Korean electronics giant is scheduled to be presented to the public in February. However, it caught the attention of crypto enthusiasts long before its expected launch.

New #GalaxyS10 live images leak with ‘Samsung Blockchain KeyStore’

(images via @GregiPfister89) pic.twitter.com/g0FipTooe6

— Ben Geskin (@VenyaGeskin1) January 23, 2019

Rumors of the possible crypto wallet integration surfaced last year but were reportedly dismissed by Samsung. Later, news came out that the company filed to register a trademark in the United Kingdom that suggests it’s considering offering such a feature.

As seen in the leaked images, the slick new smartphone has an option in its menu called “Samsung Blockchain Keystore” that offers “a secure and convenient place for your cryptocurrency.” It allows users to either import an existing wallet or create a new one.

What are your thoughts on today’s news tidbits? Tell us in the comments section.

Images courtesy of Shutterstock.

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