US releases Russian prisoner Alexander Vinnik in Marc Fogel exchange, official says

As part of the agreement to liberate Marc Fogel, the United States will release Russian prisoner Alexander Vinnik.

Vinnik was detained in Greece in 2017 on bitcoin fraud accusations, at the request of the United States. He was eventually extradited to the United States, where he pled guilty last year to conspiracy to conduct money laundering.

In 2024, Alexander Vinnik pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit money laundering. The 45-year-old ran BTC-e, which was formerly one of the world's largest bitcoin exchanges. Prosecutors claimed BTC-e was a great tool for crooks trying to shift or launder money. They said BTC-e received $121 million from "numerous computer intrusions and hacking incidents, ransomware attacks, identity theft schemes, corrupt public officials, and narcotics distribution rings."

Karoline Leavitt, White House press secretary, said that Vinnik would be traded for Fogel and would return to Russia.

"Vinnik was a nonviolent crypto criminal, and as part of this exchange, he has forfeited more than $100 million that he obtained in that illegal crime," Leavitt said.

Vinnik's sentence in California was slated for June, but a federal court conducted an unexpected status conference in the case on Tuesday. Vinnik was held in the Alameda County Jail in California prior to his sentence and was moved on Tuesday.

On Tuesday, President Donald Trump did not reveal the details of the discussions that resulted in Fogel's release or if he had spoken with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

"I can only say this: We got a man home whose mother and family wanted him desperately," Trump said.

When questioned by reporters on Tuesday if the US had given up anything in exchange for Fogel, Trump said "not much" without providing any more information.