Almost $346 million in bitcoin have been processed by crypto giant Binance for Bitzlato.
Crypto exchange Binance has moved hundreds of millions in bitcoin for Bitzlato, according to blockchain data seen by newswire «Reuters».
Binance was among Bitzlato's top three counterparties by the amount of bitcoin received between May 2018 and September 2022, according to the US Treasury's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN).
Compliance Checks
Among those counterparties, Binance was the only major crypto exchange. Binance's status would focus the Justice Department and US Treasury attention on Binance's compliance checks with Bitzlato, according to a former US banking regulator and one former law enforcement official.
A Binance spokesperson said the company had provided substantial assistance to international law enforcement to support their investigation of Bitzlato. It is committed to working collaboratively with law enforcement, but it declined to give details about its dealings with Bitzlato or the nature of its cooperation with such agencies.
Arrested by the US Authorities
Anatoly Legkodymov, Bitzlato’s co-founder and majority shareholder, was arrested by the US authorities earlier in this month for allegedly processing $700 million in illicit funds, which is said to fuel a high-tech axis of crypto crime. The US justice department said Bitzlato had touted the laxity of its background checks on clients.
