Court case # United States v. Alexander Vinnik and BTC-e United States District Court for the Northern District of California. **Jurisdiction:** US **Docket number:** Not published **Linked takedowns:** 1 **People named:** 1 ## Case record **Court:** United States District Court for the Northern District of California **Jurisdiction:** US **Docket number:** Not published **Status:** Vinnik pleaded guilty 2024-05-03 and was released/returned to Russia in a February 2025 prisoner exchange before sentencing **Status verified:** August 21, 2026 **Dataset id:** case\_us\_v\_btc\_e\_vinnik The status line was checked against the public record on August 21, 2026. Proceedings may have moved since. What this case entry is. This entry records a court docket the audit located and checked: the case name, the court, the docket number where one is published, and the status the cited sources establish. It is not a summary of proceedings and it does not stand in for the docket itself. A case listed here does not establish that anyone named on this page is guilty. Charges are accusations only. Where a cited source records a conviction or a guilty plea, that outcome is attributed to the source and this index asserts nothing beyond it. Sources for this entry were reviewed to a research cutoff of August 21, 2026. ## Takedowns linked to this case 1 takedown record in this index is linked to this case. - [BTC-e disruption](https://takedownindex.org/takedowns/btc-e-disruption). Cryptocurrency laundering, July 2017 ## People named in this case 1 person in this index is recorded as named in this case. - [Alexander Vinnik](https://takedownindex.org/people/alexander-vinnik). No alias recorded ## Sources 3 sources support this entry. Each one is listed with the role it was relied on for. - [BTC-e Operator Pleads Guilty to Money Laundering Conspiracy](https://takedownindex.org/sources/united-states-department-of-justice-office-of-public-affairs-btc-e-operator-plea), Primary source. United States Department of Justice, Office of Public Affairs, May 3, 2024. [https://www.justice.gov/archives/opa/pr/btc-e-operator-pleads-guilty-money-laundering-conspiracy](https://www.justice.gov/archives/opa/pr/btc-e-operator-pleads-guilty-money-laundering-conspiracy) - [BTC-e cryptocurrency exchange dismantled; operator Alexander Vinnik arrested](https://takedownindex.org/sources/us-doj-fbi-irs-ci-btc-e-cryptocurrency-exchange-dismantled-operator-alexander-vi), Primary source. US DOJ / FBI / IRS-CI, July 26, 2017. [https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndca/pr/russian-national-and-bitcoin-exchange-charged-21-count-indictment-operating-alleged](https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndca/pr/russian-national-and-bitcoin-exchange-charged-21-count-indictment-operating-alleged) - [Russian Alexander Vinnik back in Moscow after prisoner swap, RIA news agency says](https://takedownindex.org/sources/reuters-russian-alexander-vinnik-back-in-moscow-after-prisoner-swap-ria-news-age), Supporting source. Reuters, February 13, 2025. [https://www.reuters.com/world/plane-carrying-alexander-vinnik-released-by-us-prisoner-swap-arrives-moscow-2025-02-13/](https://www.reuters.com/world/plane-carrying-alexander-vinnik-released-by-us-prisoner-swap-arrives-moscow-2025-02-13/) [All court cases](https://takedownindex.org/cases)