Hong Kong-based cryptocurrency exchange Bitzlato was seized last week by U.S. authorities due to alleged ties with dark net markets, with its founder Anatoly Legkodymov arrested on January 18 and charged with operating an unlicensed money exchange business that allegedly processed $700 million in illegal funds.

According to The Justice Department, Bitzlato traders were given only minimal background check from their cryptocurrency exchange provider. One of Bitzlato's major trading counterparties was Binance, the leading cryptocurrency exchange, which processed over $346 million in Bitcoin for Bitzlato between May 2018 and September 2022, according to FinCEN.

FinCEN also reported that other entities that transacted with Bitzlato were the Russian-language darknet marketplace Hydra, a small exchange called LocalBitcoins, and a crypto investment website called Finiko, which it described as an alleged crypto Ponzi scheme based in Russia. 

In addition, The Justice Department considers Bitzlato as “criminal haven”, although there are not any proofs of transactions between Binance, LocalBitcoins and Finiko with Bitzlato which have violated any laws or regulations.

Sources:

https://www.forexinworld.com/binance-transferred-20000-btc-to-alleged-cash-laundering-bitzlato/ 

https://coinedition.com/binance-transferred-20000-btc-to-alleged-money-laundering-bitzlato/ 

https://www.investing.com/news/cryptocurrency-news/binance-transferred-20000-btc-to-alleged-moneylaundering-bitzlato-2989540 

https://news.bitcoin.com/binance-processed-346-million-for-crypto-exchange-bitzlato-report-claims/