Russian crypto kingpin returns to Russia as part of swap for Marc Fogel
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Alexander Vinnik arrives at court of Thessaloniki after being arrested in 2018. Photo: Nicolas Economou/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty
Alexander Vinnik, the Russian co-founder of a bitcoin exchange, was handed over to Russian authorities in Moscow on Thursday after being repatriated as part of a prisoner swap that freed American teacher Marc Fogel, a U.S. official told Axios.
Why it matters: President Trump has hailed the exchange as a "fair deal" after panning past prisoner exchanges with Russia as imbalanced or otherwise poorly negotiated.
The latest: The Trump administration released Vinnik as part of the exchange for Fogel, two U.S. officials said Wednesday.
- Vinnik, the co-founder of the bitcoin exchange BTC-e, pleaded guilty last year to conspiracy to commit money laundering and was due to be sentenced this coming June.
- Vinnik had been in U.S. custody in California.
Driving the news: Earlier Wednesday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov declined to identify the Russian prisoner by name at a press briefing, though he confirmed a swap would occur, Russian state news agency TASS reported.
- The swap's order of events varies from typical prisoner exchanges, in which prisoners are released simultaneously, with their identities revealed at the same time, AP reported.
State of play: Fogel, 63, is from the Pittsburgh area and was a teacher at the Anglo-American School of Moscow.
- He was arrested in 2021 while he tried to enter Russia with a small amount of medical marijuana in his luggage. He was sentenced to 14 years in prison.
- Fogel arrived back in the U.S. Tuesday night.
Zoom out: Trump has been critical of prisoner exchanges in the past.
- After the Biden administration freed Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich as part of a historic prisoner exchange with Russia last year, Trump took to Truth Social to question the terms of the deal.
- "Are we releasing murderers, killers, or thugs? Just curious because we never make good deals," Trump wrote, adding that offering other countries something in exchange set a "bad precedent."
- He was also sharply critical of the Biden administration's prisoner swap for WNBA star Brittney Griner, which saw Russia receive a notorious arms dealer Viktor Bout in exchange.
Flashback: While Trump did manage to secure the release of some American detainees without an exchange during his first term, he also presided over at least four prisoner swaps, CNN reported.
Barak Ravid contributed reporting.
Go deeper: American teacher back in U.S. after Russia releases him from detention
Editor's note: This story has been updated throughout with new information.
