Russian code criminals seek Trump’s pardon for US President

The founder of the cryptocurrency exchange relied on Donald Trump for a pardon that was shut down for allegedly dealing with criminal illegal funds.

Although already sentenced him to the US, the convicted crypto entrepreneur hopes that it will help the US president avoid extradition to France, where he is likely to spend more time in prison.

Owners of Crypto Exchange Bitzlato are seeking tolerance from Trump

A Russian citizen, who was arrested and declared in the United States for his cryptocurrency business, sought pardon from the US head of state.

Melnikov, vice-president of the Russian branch of the International Commission on Human Rights, was quoted on Friday as:

“Anatoly Legkodymov, a Russian engineer and co-founder of the Bitzlato Cryptocurrency Platform, is officially sought a pardon from President Donald Trump.”

The lawyer noted that the move is taking place amid a continuing attempt by Parisian authorities to ensure the extradition of Legkodimov in another 20 years, according to reports in Russian media.

Legkodymov, the majority owner and chief executive of Bitzlato, was arrested in Miami in 2023 with French help and was later accused of operating a peer-to-peer crypto trading platform as an unlicensed money exchange service.

After a year and a half court proceeding, the Russian was sentenced to 18 months in prison. However, following French extradition demands, the US judiciary decided to detain him.

Melnikov claims that Bitzlato is in fact a “trade notification board”.

“Anatoly is not a criminal. He has been the target of a political campaign against crypto markets and talented Russian programmers.”

The legal defender added that the client’s decision to seek pardon from Trump is “based on the hope that the US will return to a more balanced and fair approach to digital finance and that the US and Russia will gradually build dialogue.”

Another Russian crypto boss getting into trouble in the West

However, in a New York court case, Legkodimov pleaded guilty to running an unauthorized money transfer business in late 2023. He also agreed to confiscate $23 million worth of crypto assets related to the exchange.

According to the US Department of Justice (DOJ), Bitzrat, registered in Hong Kong, is globally operated and demonstrates its status as a platform that requires minimal identification from users. The DOJ, who announced the accusations against the Russian founder, explained.

“As a result of these inadequate knowledge clients (KYC) procedures, Bitzlato is said to have become a paradise of criminal proceeds and funds intended for use in criminal acts.”

The department claimed that Bitzrat’s biggest counterparty was Hydra, perhaps the largest and longest-running darknet market, which was extremely popular on the corners of the Russian-speaking dark web. Hydra users have exchanged an estimated $700 million in coins for exchange.

The case of Bitzlato and its owners is not the first time that the Russian crypto trading platform and its management have discovered problems with law enforcement in the western world.

Last month, TASS reported that Poland agreed to hand over to the US, former CEO of former WEX, formerly Russia’s largest cryptocurrency exchange. Dmitry Vasiliev was arrested in Warsaw in 2024 at a request from the US, where he is accused of fraud and money laundering.

Wex is the successor to the infamous BTC-E exchange, believed to have washed $9 billion. The suspect’s operator, Russian citizen Alexander Vinnik, was arrested in Greece in 2017 and later handed over to France, where he was sentenced to five years in December 2020.

Vinnik was then transferred to the US and faced an additional fee. He was eventually traded for American school teacher Mark Vogel in a prisoner swap deal agreed by the Trump administration and President Putin’s Russia.

The pardon of Bitzlato founder Anatoly Legkodymov came in January.