Alleged Bitcoin “crime mastermind” Aleksandr Vinnik has been arrested in Greece, after being indicted by a grand jury in California, reportedly on charges of laundering $4 billion. According to Russian newsagency RT, Vinnik "is claimed to be linked to BTC-E, a digital currency trading and exchange platform operating in US dollars, euros, Russian rubles and a list of popular cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin."

On Wednesday, a day before the arrest was announced, BTC-E said that it was suffering from “possible problems with access,” and later the platform was shut down.
“At the moment, work is underway to restore the service. Approximate terms from 5 to 10 days. Thank you for understanding” read the BTC-E latest tweet.
WizSec, a Bitcoin security firm, used the occasion to publish an investigation that accuses Vinnik of playing a “crucial role” in the notorious theft of Bitcoins from Mt. Gox, another Bitcoin exchange, starting from 2011 – a crime potentially worth billions of dollars.
Vinnik has already appeared in front of the prosecutors and the US have lodged an extradition request.
Bloomberg quotes a source as saying that the Russian entrepreneur was wanted for operating “a website that carried out Bitcoin conversions for proceeds from online hacking ransom, drug running, identity theft and tax violations.”
This arrest comes at a sensitive time, with August 1st looming and it is hard to tell how will it affect the cryptocurrencies market.

Any opinions on that?

Source https://www.rt.com/news/397639-bitcoin-btce-linked-arrest-laundering/