ANX distances itself from CoinMKT

ANX, the Hong Kong-based parent company of US-based bitcoin exchange CoinMKT, is planning to distance itself from the exchange after the arrest of federal law enforcement agents on criminal behavior with bitcoins.

Two officers have been arrested for alleged bitcoin theft in the Silk Road case. Out of the two accused, Carl Force, a former Drug Enforcement Agent (DEA), was an investor with the exchange reportedly. He has been accused not only with theft of bitcoin, but also freezing client funds under the pretext of suspicious activity, then channelling them to his personal accounts.

In order to expand into the US market, ANX purchased the domain name and brand rights to CoinMKT earlier this year. The exchange said that the purchase of the CoinMKT.com domain was done in January, but it "did not receive in the transaction any historical data, such as customer records, transaction histories, identification materials, or email correspondence." Moreover, the alleged illegal activities took place "well before ANX purchased the domain."