PANews reported on February 14 that Alexander Vinnik, the operator of the now-defunct crypto exchange BTC-e, was repatriated to Russia as part of a prisoner exchange with the United States, according to Cointelegraph. Russian state news agency TASS reported that Vinnik arrived in Moscow from Istanbul, Turkey, by plane and landed at Vnukovo International Airport on the evening of February 13. The BTC-e operator was released in exchange for the release of American teacher Marc Fogel, who was repatriated on February 11.

Vinnik, a Russian national, was arrested in Greece in 2017 and extradited to the United States in August 2022. In May 2024, he pleaded guilty to conspiracy to launder money while operating BTC-e between 2011 and 2017.