Major Russian exchange freezes $4m of user assets, citing money laundering

Russian
cryptocurrency
exchange
Beribit
faces fraud
allegations
after
refusing
to
refund customers’ money.

Russian
media

reports
that
the
crypto
exchange
administration
requires
a
certificate
of
the
legality
of
income
from
Beribit
victims
in
order
to
avoid
paying
debts.
Just 19
of
100
exchange
clients
have
received
money.

According
to
some
estimates,
the
total
amount
of
funds
blocked
on
Beribit
could
reach
400
million
rubles,
equal
to
about
$4.3
million.
Previously, representatives
of
the
platform confirmed
damages
in
the
amount
of
24.9
million
rubles,
about
$263,000,
but
this
is
only
a small part
of
the
total
amount
of
frozen
assets.

Only 11
clients
have
passed
the
audit
and
are
supposed
to
receive
their
funds
in
the
coming
days.
However,
in
the
middle
of
the
night,
users
received
messages
from
Beribit,
demanding
they
provide
evidence
that
they
were
not
laundering
money
through
exchanges.

Owners
of
crypto
wallets
suspect
that
the
exchange
is
changing
conditions,
asking
for
personal
information,
and
looking
for
an
excuse
to
pocket
the
money.

The
scandal
surrounding
Beribit
broke
out back in
March
when searches
were
carried
out in
the company’s Moscow
offices.
In
April,
the
exchange

reported technical
problems with
the
withdrawal
of
cryptocurrency,
which
it
later
explained
by
a
change
in
management
and reporting
inconsistencies. After
a
crowd
of
outraged
customers
arrived
outside Beribit’s office,
the
company
promised
to fully
pay
users.

However, so far Beribit
has
not
delivered
on
its
promises,
and
platform
customers
continue
to
complain
about
the
inability
to
withdraw
funds.