Casualties of war do not retrospectively benefit from policy reversals by new administrations. If anything, a volte-face cheapens their sacrifice by implying they perished for nothing.
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Biden’s War on Crypto supposedly ended when the 46th president vacated the international stage, his successor Donald Trump proclaiming that Bitcoin stood for for “freedom, sovereignty, and independence from government, coercion and control,” and that under his stewardship, the United States would become the “crypto capital of the world.”
If the war ended, nobody told Anatoly Legkodymov. The co-founder of crypto exchange Bitzlato was arrested three years ago in Miami, accused of operating an unlicensed money-transmitting business favored by criminals.
After enduring 18 months in Brooklyn’s notorious Metropolitan Detention Center, Anatoly was sentenced to time served by US District Judge Eric Vitaliano. Despite the ruling, he remains in federal custody pending an extradition request from France.
Entrepreneur in Handcuffs
Today, the Sword of Damocles hangs over the Russian engineer. If the French authorities get their wish, he will be flown to France to face the same charges. The difference is, he could spend decades in prison.
Rewind to 2016. The crypto industry’s first major boom, characterized by ICO mania, is more than a year away. Engineer Anatoly Legkodymov, a husband and father, creates a trading platform catering to Eastern European users who struggle to access digital assets.
A peer-to-peer exchange – meaning users can effectively trade without an intermediary – Bitzlato is unavailable to US customers. Anatoly’s goal is to establish a compliant yet accessible platform where traders can interact with the new phenomenon of digital tokens.
The popularity of Bitzlato grows. As its user base increases, hundreds of millions of dollars flow through the platform, yet it remains free to use. In January 2023, during a family holiday in Florida, Anatoly’s daughter watches in horror as FBI agents burst into their condo, handcuff her father, and unceremoniously haul him away.
According to the Department of Justice, hundreds of millions of dollars moved between Bitzlato and Hydra, a dark web marketplace akin to Silk Road. In essence, Anatoly answered for the apparent crimes of some users, with the office of Brooklyn US Attorney Breon Peace claiming Bitzlato functioned as “a clearinghouse for dirty money.”
Why, one wonders, does PayPal payment app Venmo not have to answer for the proclivities of a minority of its customers? A 2017 survey by LendEDU found a third of millennials had used the app to score marijuana, Adderall, cocaine, and other illicit substances.
In addition to serving time in custody for his charge, Anatoly had his funds seized, immediately erasing the wealth he had amassed. Ironically, he was dubbed an “entrepreneur and a visionary” by the aforementioned judge Eric Vitaliano, who added that he had “led a life to be admired.”
Despite Vitaliano decreeing that time served should suffice for the crime, Anatoly nevertheless remains in federal custody.
From Pioneer to Pardoned?
The fact is, Anatoly Legkodymov never met or interacted with anyone from Hydra, the marketplace alleged to be the source of illegal acts conducted by a minority of Bitzlato’s customers. He pled guilty to a single non-violent count related to unlicensed banking, was housed in unspeakable conditions at Brooklyn’s violent MDC, and completed his sentence without incident. Why, then, is he still incarcerated?
The Biden administration’s decision to detain Anatoly pending a possible extradition reflected their desire to pursue a misguided war against Web3 tech and crypto. A war, we are told, that ended when Trump rode into the White House and began praising the industry’s innovators and imagineers, of whom Anatoly is undeniably a member.
Ironically, since taking office, the President has issued pardons for Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht, who had served almost a decade of two life sentences, as well as executives of crypto exchanges BitMEX and Binance.
In the case of Binance boss Changpeng Zhao, who had been sentenced to four months for “enabling money laundering,” Trump said he had been told the exec was the victim of a Biden-era witch hunt. Bitzlato is now gone but Binance is thriving.
Some might argue that if French authorities have reasonable cause to detain Anatoly Legkodymov, it is their prerogative to do so. However, Anatoly engaged with these authorities over a three-day period and was given assurances that he would not be prosecuted if he cooperated.
Despite this, French prosecutors reneged on their promise by issuing charges after he was sentenced and had served time in the United States.
The bellicose attitude of Biden’s prosecutorial attack dogs should be confined to the dustbin of history, yet in France, we hear echoes of their demented barks. Anatoly is the casualty of a supposedly abandoned war, lodged in the remnants of old machinery deemed out of step with the wants and needs of a digital society.
The unfairness of Anatoly’s treatment is inarguable. Responsible for building one of the earliest crypto platforms, this humble family man has been jailed like an animal and faces the prospect of many more years without liberty. Pursuing him in France is effectively double punishment, and it is incumbent upon the U.S. authorities to send a clear message by releasing him without delay.
Let the war be over.