Cryptocurrency exchange Bitzlato enables customers to withdraw up to 50% of bitcoin funds stranded at the venue. The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) shut down the company in January and arrested its founder, Anatoly Legkodymov, for allegedly handling more than $700 million worth of illicit funds. Users can withdraw up to 50% of assets previously frozen by the authorities, the company revealed. Those willing to do so should use the Telegram bot - bz_phoenix_bot - to transfer funds to another exchange or external wallet.
Every withdrawal has been processed in bitcoin since the company converted all altcoin holdings to bitcoin when the U.S. Department of Justice shut down the platform nearly two months ago.
The company further urged customers to press the "Support Bitzlato" button when using the feature, which could help the team "restore justice" and grant access to the remaining 50% of assets. Some users have already withdrawn their assets, while others insist they were able to transfer their assets to other exchanges, such as Bybit. On the other hand, some prefer to keep their assets in Bitzlato, hoping that the entity will offer peer-to-peer (P2P) cryptocurrency trading services by early April 2023.
The platform made headlines in mid-January after the U.S. Department of Justice halted operations with the backing of Europol. It was a hotbed of criminal activity, handling more than $700 million worth of illicit transactions, according to officials.
The DOJ also detained Bitzlato founder Anatoly Legkodymov, accusing him of running an unlicensed money transfer business. Prosecutors insisted that the exchange did not implement the necessary anti-money laundering standards and required only minimal authorization from customers.
Several sources suggest that Bitzlato, which has ties to Russia, facilitated a large number of illicit cryptocurrency transactions for Hydra Market users. The latter is a darknet marketplace involved in drug trafficking, money laundering, and other criminal activities.
German law enforcement shut down its servers in April 2022, confiscating 543 BTC, worth about $25 million at the time.
