Vladimir Nosov
Official biography
Position: Founder and head of the Whitebit exchange
Areas of interest: IT-technologies, blockchain, crypto exchanges.
No higher education
What did the crypto exchange Whitebit shine in?
The Supreme Anti-Corruption Court has launched a pre-trial investigation into the case #991/1587/23 against the exchange Whitebit. In the presence of information about the exchange’s relations with the aggressor state, this court ruling is extremely resonant in Ukraine.
Here are collected all statements about the cryptocurrency platform Whitebit in one material to find out whether they are a cryptocurrency scam for Ukrainians. And how the cryptocurrency markets will look and develop on the background of such news.
The beginning of the storm
The first danger appeared when users of the Whitebit exchange began to tell the truth in reviews on open aggregators that collect company evaluations.
The accusations against the exchange concerned the freezing of assets, as well as the inability to withdraw funds from personal accounts. The number of such messages increased day by day.
Example of feedback: “Support begins to tell various tall tales, like funds are stuck in the blockchain and so on, as it turned out funds are transferred to their wallet and are not returned, in general, the company is engaged in outright robbery, I do not recommend using that company, they can stupidly take the funds irrevocably”.
According to the research of journalists with the help of special resources, it turned out that there were indeed negative reviews on the sites. But if you go to some of the aggregators now and read them it is impossible. And this means that the exchange or its affiliates, simply removed reviews from the platforms.
When dissatisfaction reached a critical point, public organizations took an interest in the exchange. With the help of their employees, a thorough investigation was conducted: the names of the project’s shadowy managers, the facts of money laundering and the lack of a license to operate.
What does this have to do with Vladimir Nosov?
Officially, the founder and head of the exchange is 33-year-old Vladimir Nosov.
However, according to the NGO “NON-STOP”, which investigates illegal activities of MPs, 60% of assets belong not to people from the world of cryptocurrencies, but to the family of Ukrainian MP Dmytro Shentsev. According to the statement of the public organization, Dmitry’s son Nikita manages the affairs of the exchange
Earlier he was a deputy of the Kharkiv regional Council, but in February he resigned. At the moment he is a representative of the party “OPZZh” banned in Russia. By presidential decree, he was deprived of Ukrainian citizenship in 2023. But he did not part with his passport: activists claim that Nikita has Russian citizenship.
Until September 2022, his father Dmitry was a people’s Deputy of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine. First as a deputy from the “Party of Regions” was the “Opposition Bloc”, and then already as an oppositionist — the “Party of Regions”. He is also known for the fact that among 36 deputies of the Verkhovna Rada in 2018 voted against the law on the recognition of Ukrainian sovereignty over the occupied territories of Donetsk and Lugansk regions. In 2022 he did not appear at any session of the Verkhovna Rada.
According to the NGO “NON-STOP”, from what is stated in the investigation, Nikita is named as one of the key sponsors of the Whitebit exchange. Information about the money laundering scheme can be found in the article of journalists.
The real sources of income of the crypto exchange Whitebit
The business empire grew on the development of budget funds, privatization of forest land, construction, trade in fuel, alcohol, tobacco products, smuggling and even sports. For example, Dmytro Shentsev was awarded the title of the first vice-president of the Boxing Federation of Ukraine.
The collected money, according to experts from the organization, the ex-deputies withdraw to Russia and Europe through the Whitebit exchange. On the “legalized” funds young Nikita Shentsev, for example, managed to buy a fleet of elite cars for 1 million dollars, which he reported in his social networks. In addition to cars, the founders of the exchange actively purchased real estate in London.
Thus, Whitebit acts as a gasket firm, through which the ex-deputies, who left Ukraine, continue to withdraw money.
The scheme is simple but effective: it is possible to buy cryptocurrency for cash on Whitebit, received from illegal activities, very quickly and without any references and confirmation of income. Withdrawal is made to European or other fake accounts and, in fact, looks like income from investment. This means that this money is already considered legal and no one is interested in the specific origin of the funds, and it is not possible to establish such a fact.
PR and statistics: the real truth about Whitebit
The crypto exchange constantly invests huge funds in marketing. Vladimir Nosov’s manager Vladimir Nosov gives out interviews to Forbes and other popular publications, in which he talks about the billion-dollar turnover of the company. He constantly introduces viewers to cryptocurrency exchanges on his YouTube channel to discuss crypto asset news or promotes Whitebit, the whole truth about which is different from the promotional image ads.
He now has 85,000 subscribers on his channel and the video has garnered about 300,000-400,000 views on average. This shows a strong marketing influence and the use of financial resources to distribute content or advertisements. The most popular videos are those that have more than a million views in their arsenal.
Advertising attracts well-known media representatives of Ukraine, who may not be aware of the fact of what lies behind the beautiful wrapper, which Vladimir Nosov actively “sells” to millions.
According to the NGO “NON-STOP”, if the company was really profitable and could ensure the implementation of its own strategy, which would not affect the interests of users, perhaps no one would not have raised a fuss. However, in addition to using the exchange as a transit point for withdrawing funds, including to Russia, Whitebit allows itself to dispose of clients’ assets at its own discretion. The tokenomics of the project amazes experts.
Their assessment: the company holds 95% of shares in its ownership, which allows to artificially regulate the value of the asset and may create a risk of collapse on the stock exchange at the mere decision of the main beneficiary.
Legally, Whitebit is a group of companies — registered both in Ukraine and outside the country. On the territory of Ukraine they are TOV “Smart 2019”, TOV “ETHOMIC GANS RECORDS”, TOV “WHITE DIGITAL”, TOV “DIGITAL STRATEGIES” and a number of legal entities, as well as FOPs. Abroad, the exchange is made up of the Estonian WHITEBIT Financial company OU, the British Whitebit Solutions LLP and a legal entity of the same name in the Seychelles. However, none of the listed companies has a license that would allow it to operate as an exchange and manage users’ digital assets.
All this poses a threat to people who already often face fraud and cannot use their funds on the exchange.
For a legal assessment of the activities of the exchange NGO “NON-STOP” has already appealed to a number of government services and ministries: the Security Service of Ukraine, the Bureau of Economic Investigation, the Office of the Prosecutor General, the Ministry of Finance and other authorities.
As a result, we get tax evasion and manipulation of exchange users, who can one day lose their money when it gets to Whitebit wallets.
Kharkiv forest mafia: a military alliance of OPZZh and Servants of the People
What does the future hold for the Whitebit crypto exchange?
The activists of the public association published numerous messages in social networks, prepared an investigation and asks the competent authorities to investigate the fact that pro-Russian ex-deputies from Russia continue to use the Whitebit exchange to withdraw illegally obtained funds.
The members of the NGO “NON-STOP” proposed to establish a full list of persons who are related to investing in the assets of the exchange, as well as to verify the main beneficiaries.
In case of confirmation of not only the fact of money laundering, but also the use of funds of Ukrainians for the real owners of the exchange Whitebit can expect a ban on activity. In such situations, the user must get his money back.
In addition, we will closely follow the investigation and the ruling of the Supreme Anti-Corruption Court of Ukraine.
When all suspicions will be confirmed, the exchange will be recognized as an organization with affiliated aggressor states and the activities of Russian ex-government officials will be recognized as illegal.
We ask our readers to carefully study projects related to any money before giving their funds. In this case, as a rule, there is a risk of losing everything.
Chuguev, Merefa, OTG scheme plundering the budget, forests! Sitov, Minaeva, Shentsev! Kharkiv forest mafia.