Russian National Pleads Guilty to Running Safe Haven for Ransomware Operators

A Russian national pleaded guilty this week to operating a cryptocurrency exchange designed to launder illicit gains. Anatolii Legkodymov, also known as “Gandalf” and “Tolik,” ran Bitzlato, a globally operated cryptocurrency exchange registered in Hong Kong. In January, the US Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) issued [https://www.fincen.gov/news/news-releases/fincen-identifies-virtual-currency-exchange-bitzlato-primary-money-laundering] an order that i