Telegram founder Pavel Durov turned out to be one of the clients of the WEX crypto exchange, which is considered as the successor of BTC-e. He had more than 2,000 BTC worth $18 million on WEX.

The database of WEX clients leaked to the network. The link to the archived file is distributed mainly through politics-focused Russian-speaking Telegram channels. In 2017, WEX committed itself to pay debts to users of the closed BTC-e crypto exchange, accused by the US authorities as a platform for laundering billions of dollars stolen by cybercriminals. In June 2017, BTC-e suddenly went offline. At the same time, the Russian citizen Alexander Vinnik was arrested in Greece at the request of the US authorities. Vinnik was accused of being the owner or administrator of BTC-e.

The lists of WEX users include Pavel Durov. The database contains information about his email and assets. According to the database, Durov’s account was registered to his official mail This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., which Durov also indicated when registering British Telegram companies. His account contained 2070 bitcoins worth approximately $18 million at the current rate.

Little is known about either BTC-e or WEX owners. After BTC-e suspended operations, the exchange actually restarted under the WEX brand. The exchange management promised to pay off BTC-e debts. The operator of the new exchange was a company in Singapore. Its owner was the Russian citizen Dmitry Vasiliev. In 2018, WEX was acquired by the former Donbass militia Dmitry Khavchenko, known by the callsign “Sailor”. Formally, the company in Singapore was registered for his daughter Daria Khavchenko, as local regulators refused to register the former militia as the owner of the legal entity.

Khavchenko did not disclose, where he managed to get the money for the purchase of the crypto-exchange. Russian-speaking RBC Magazine claimed that Khavchenko could be financially supported by the Russian entrepreneur, Orthodox oligarch, owner of the Tsargrad group and one of the founders of the Safe Internet League, Konstantin Malofeev, who was included in the US sanctions list due to his active role in Donbass and Crimea conflicts. Earlier, Malofeev participated in the contradictory seizure of the VKontakte social networks developed and partially owned by Pavel Durov at that time. The representative of Malofeev denied any connections of the oligarch with Sailor and WEX.

WEX suspended trading operations a year ago. Withdrawals are not available, as well. In July 2019, Vasiliev was arrested in Italy. Police in the Italian town of Matera disclosed that he was arrested due to the ruling of the Potenza court at the request of Interpol in connection with a criminal case brought against him in Kazakhstan, where he is accused of fraud.