BTC-e was effectively shut down this week by US authorities. Like many folk I was an active trader. In fact I had just sent more coin to BTC-e as to trade up to BTC before the anticipated Aug 1 possible split. As luck would have it; less than 30 min after I sent my coin, as I was on the site; watching the trollbox... the site just suddenly stopped responding.
At first I thought it was DDOS and went onto other things as I gave it some time to try another attempt to login. After some time passed and I was still unable to access the site, I checked twitter and the forums to try and ascertain what the matter was.
Of course later I would discover that the US authorities had taken a person into custody and named BTC-e in a federal complaint. See the federal indictment here.
In addition; FinCEN has imposed a $110 million fine on BTC-e
We do not know that fate of the funds on the site at this point however I would surmise to say they are not going to be returned to the folks that were trading on the site.
BTC-e was one of the very first exchanges and even though they had a few minor issues; they were for the most part honorable to clients and never gave any indication of being high risk as they had been an established member of the exchange community for years. The site had a solid reputation as being available and functional.
It is not the clients responsibility to know everything that goes on behind the scenes, in some aspect you could liken this as a casino that might be run by some shady characters; but the folks playing black jack are normal honest people just doing their thing. Folks do not know what is going on behind the curtain in the back rooms; but it is usually those honest folks who suffer.
Sometimes timing is not ones advocate as well. Unfortunately for myself and the individual I care for; this situation has struck a heavy blow to our well being and I must rethink my own situation as well.
I live with and assist full time; an elderly friend and as such I am unable to leave his side for more than a few hours at most. This prevents me from doing certain things and trading crypto's was one way to be near him and profit at the same time. He is the nicest and kindest person you would ever meet.
Ironically we had just moved our reserve (LTC, ETH) to BTC-e to convert to BTC and move back to our wallet. Not 30 minuets had passed as we were actually in the process of trading when suddenly everything stopped.
We would never solicit without good cause, and I feel somewhat awkward at this moment; however I must at least attempt if not so much for me; for my friend who is in his twilight years and I just want to make things comfortable for him. In the past I set up a gofundme account for him; however only 1 person donated.
Now I am appealing to the folks in the cryptosphere. I do volunteer work and never was one to covet and chase money per se; but one needs to sustain and live. I cannot continue to run on fumes and it pains me to be unable to give Thomas a better life also.
If you find it in your being to assist Thomas and myself; here are our crypto addresses:
0x1975e33eB216710aa3907C80dBf96F4c8429Dd79 (ETH)
1D3BmGcj4LjZoppMnQbEWd5F77ffVgU8QM (BTC)
LRnutAZgfmg1hwZkVY7kZZaJemNt8ZhihC (LTC)
0x3e1d24064b3e949da8c8224c15d520bf43c85d86 (ETC)
XgJdVDYU6tLFH7grq72n9C6Y3fbgRudyrB (DSH)
Thank you from Thomas and myself for your time and consideration. May we all be blessed with good health and well being.