Bitzlato Suspends Withdrawals Ahead of Court Proceedings in France

According to CryptoPotato, Hong Kong-based cryptocurrency exchange Bitzlato has temporarily halted withdrawals and technical support in preparation for upcoming court proceedings related to the confiscation of its user assets in France. The exchange's team remains optimistic about the court case. This suspension comes a few weeks after co-founder Anatoly Legkodymov pleaded guilty to money laundering charges in New York and agreed to shut down the exchange. The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) arrested Legkodymov in January after issuing an international crypto enforcement action in a joint operation with the Treasury Department and European law enforcement agencies. Legkodymov was deemed responsible for transmitting over $700 million in illicit funds from criminals attracted to the exchange due to its minimal requirements for user-identifying information. Bitzlato was also a major service provider for darknet market participants and ransomware criminals. In addition to Legkodymov, European law enforcement agencies apprehended other key figures from Bitzlato, including former CEO Mikhail Lunev, contractor Pavel Lerner, an undisclosed dev-ops engineer, and marketing director Alexander Goncharenko. After the DOJ shut down Bitzlato's operations and froze its assets, the exchange's team granted users partial access to their holdings in March. The team had converted its total altcoin holdings to bitcoin (BTC) and allowed customers to withdraw up to 50% of their funds to other exchanges or external wallets using a Telegram bot. However, it remains unclear when customers will be able to access their balances due to the latest development.