DOJ Charges Two Russians for Masterminding Historic Mt. Gox Hack and Operating Illicit Cryptocurrency Exchange

Two Russian nationals were charged by the US Department of Justice for hacking Mt. Gox, a major cryptocurrency exchange, in 2011 and stealing hundreds of thousands of bitcoins.
The two men, Alexey Bilyuchenko and Aleksandr Verner, allegedly conspired to launder 647,000 bitcoins worth billions of dollars today.
Bilyuchenko was also charged for working with another co-conspirator to operate BTC-e, an illegal cryptocurrency exchange used to launder money for criminals worldwide between 2011 to 2017.
The massive theft from Mt. Gox contributed to the exchange's collapse and undermined confidence in cryptocurrency markets.
The indictments are part of a recent crackdown by the DOJ on illicit cryptocurrency activity including the shutdown of a major darkweb money launderer.