The crowdfunding site change.org has recently posted a request for signatures to have the US government, and particularly the Department of Justice, release funds seized from the BTC-e site. The petition states:
“A few days ago a crypto currency exchange has been shutdown by the us government and a lot of innocent people lost a lot of money in the process.
We need our money back!”
Seized Domain
Yesterday the government seized the domain, and victims are not certain about the state of the funds that were previously held by the site. The seizures began after the arrest of one of the owners and administrators of the site, Alexander Vinnik. The site had been connected to the laundering of money, and specifically the stolen funds related to the MtGox incident.
Public Outcry
There has been widespread concern regarding the jurisdiction of the US government over the domain, as well as over some of the bizarre things associated with the seizure.
At the time of publishing, there were 971 supporters after only one day.