Alleged Coin.mx Operator Anthony Murgio Pleads Not Guilty

The alleged operator of an illegal Bitcoin Exchange used to launder proceeds of crime, Anthony Murgio, has pleaded not guilty in Manhattan federal court.

Coin.mx was allegedly used to help extortionists get cash in exchange for the bitcoin received from victims whose computers they infected with malware.

The exchange has become one piece of the puzzle in a sweeping investigation into the hacking of 83 million customer records at JPMorgan, the compromising of customer accounts at numerous US stock brokerages and the manipulation of stock prices, which all lead to tens of millions in ill-gotten profits.

Murgio was arrested in Florida in July, at the same time as the arrests of Gery Shalon and Ziv Orenstein in Israel, who were allegedly involved in the scheme and are awaiting extradition to the US. Another individual, Joshua Samuel Aaron, remains at large in Russia, outside the reach of US authorities. The above were formally charged one week ago.

It is believed that Murgio and Shalon were friends dating back to their days at Florida State University; Shalon is also accused of running the bitcoin exchange.

Following Murgio's arrest, a search warrant was carried out for his computer files, which were seized from his residence.

Trial is scheduled to begin on October 31, 2016.