A Russian cybercrime suspect, Alexander Vinnik, has admitted to some of the charges against him in a US court, according to his lawyer Arkady Bukh. Vinnik, who was arrested in Greece in 2017 and subsequently convicted in France for money laundering, is currently awaiting trial in California. The plea deal is expected to result in a sentence of less than 10 years in prison, a significant reduction from the possible life sentence he faced. Vinnik is accused of laundering more than $4 billion through the cryptocurrency bitcoin, allegedly through his operation of BTC-e, described by the US Department of Justice as a major cybercrime and online money laundering platform catering to criminal clientele. Despite Russia's extradition requests, Vinnik was extradited to France and later to the United States in 2022. The US charges against him carry a maximum sentence of 55 years, but the plea agreement aims to reduce his potential prison time by having him plead guilty to a limited number of charges.

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