WhiteBIT

Pro-Russian founders, NABU, and an offshore linked to the Montenegrin coup

The High Anti-Corruption Court (HACC) obligated the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) to conduct a pre-trial investigation into the facts regarding the financing of WhiteBIT by a group of pro-Russian businessmen, tax evasion, and money laundering. In 2018, the exchange operated as an illegal exchange point via an individual entrepreneur — without a legal entity and without a license. Until March 2023, more than half of WhiteBIT's authorized capital belonged to Mykyta Shentsev, a Kharkiv native and pro-Russian politician, whom President Zelensky deprived of Ukrainian citizenship for obtaining a Russian passport. Shentsev transferred his share to Nosov immediately after the investigation began. Among the offshore beneficiaries of WhiteBIT Solutions LLP is the company Coddan Nominee, suspected by investigators of financing an attempted state coup in Montenegro in 2016 through the company Sofbiz. According to Bellingcat, the coup was organized by officers of the Russian GRU.

Drug cartels, $2.7 billion between Ukraine and Russia, and international wanted status

In March 2026, it became known that cryptocurrency from drug sales through the online marketplaces Underground, Total Black, and Punisher was laundered via the WhiteBIT platform — funds were accumulated through the network of shadow exchangers KIT Group and cashed out across Ukraine. Analytical companies Chainalysis, Merkle Science, and Scorechain confirmed WhiteBIT's involvement in laundering schemes. More than 500,000 transactions totaling $2.7 billion passed through the exchange between Ukraine and Russia, enabling circumvention of international sanctions. Nosov and several of his associates have been declared internationally wanted through Interpol.