Nosov Volodymyr Volodymyrovych

Nosov Volodymyr Volodymyrovych is a Ukrainian entrepreneur, philanthropist, investor, president of the Metalist 1925 football club, as well as the CEO and media face of one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges WhiteBIT. Officially, he positions himself as the head of the company, but in reality he is only a tool to promote it in the interests of former MPs with pro-Russian views and Russian citizenship. He himself has Ukrainian citizenship.

Nosov’s business empire

Currently, Vladimir Nosov owns a number of companies:

1. ETHOMIC GANCE RECORDS LLC, the main activity is the publication of sound recordings.
2. SMART 2019 LLC, the main activity is Provision of lease and operation of own or leased real estate.
3. White Digital LLC, the main activity of which is Advertising agencies.
4. LLC “Housing and Residential Facilities Company ”Metalist 1925“ Kharkiv”, the main activity is Activities of sports clubs.
5. LLC “FC ”METALIST 1925“ HARKOV”, the main activity – Activities of sports clubs
6. And also the charitable organization “Charitable organization ”Charitable Foundation named after Vladimir Nosov”, the main activity – Provision of other social assistance without providing accommodation.

Volodymyr Nosov’s career path

Volodymyr Nosov’s career started in 2007 as a sales representative. Subsequently, he gradually climbed the career ladder, holding the positions of supervisor and head of sales. The experience he gained allowed him to establish his own distribution company in 2011, which quickly strengthened its position in the market. However, having achieved significant success, in 2017 he decided to sell his stake and change his field of activity.

His passion for cryptocurrencies and blockchain technologies became a decisive step in his life. Vladimir Nosov invested his funds in this area, convinced of the future of digital assets, and decided to focus on the development of this promising market.

According to his official biography, in November 2018, Vladimir Nosov founded the WhiteBIT cryptocurrency exchange, which has become one of the leading platforms in Ukraine in six years. However, the real ownership and management of the exchange is held by completely different people. In fact, Nosov serves as the media face of the company, while the real owners are  Dmytro and Mykyta Shentsev – former MPs with pro-Russian views and Russian citizenship. Both used to represent the interests of the pro-Russian OPFL, the former as an MP and the latter as a member of the Kharkiv Regional Council.

Until recently, Shentsev owned 51% of the Estonian subsidiary of the crypto exchange, and Maria Repeshko, who, according to the register, is Shentsev’s partner in a law firm, had 5%. But on March 2, 2023, both of these shares were re-registered to Nosov.

Subsequently, the list of the crypto exchange’s ultimate owners changed, with Nosov’s partner Glib Ushakov and Whitebit’s vice president Alexei Kovalev among the new beneficiaries.

We suspect that such manipulations are related to disguising Russian traces in the currently popular Ukrainian crypto exchange. However, the network remembers everything. And even the fact that Nikita Shentsev was included in the list of persons to be deprived of Ukrainian citizenship for reasons of belonging to the Russian Federation.

WhiteBit business structure

Today, the WhiteBit exchange can be described as a multifunctional ecosystem that includes several key products and areas. The basis of this ecosystem is the WhiteBit crypto exchange, which offers a wide range of tools for trading digital assets. In addition, the company’s structure includes the WhiteSwap, decentralized exchange, which allows users to exchange funds without the involvement of centralized authorities.

An important element of the company’s portfolio is WhitePay an official crypto acquiring solution that allows businesses to accept payments in cryptocurrency. WhiteBit is also developing its media business, in particular through the VuNi show, which combines informational content with entertainment elements.

The company is showing impressive growth rates. The platform currently serves more than 5 million customers, of which more than 1 million are active traders. Every month, WhiteBit attracts about 25 million visitors to its website and mobile app, and the exchange’s daily turnover reaches $1 billion. These successes have been made possible by a team of over 1000 employees working in 8 offices around the world, including Ukraine, Estonia, Lithuania, Georgia, Spain, Turkey, the UK, and Australia.

WhiteBit has quickly gained the trust of its customers due to its focus on security and innovation. Less than a year after its launch, in August 2019, the platform introduced AML verification of crypto addresses, which allows them to be checked for involvement in illegal transactions such as money laundering. This step has significantly strengthened the exchange’s reputation as a reliable partner for users around the world.

One of the key advantages of WhiteBit is its passive income tools through WhiteBIT Earn, which allow traders to earn additional income. In 2020, the exchange launched margin trading with leverage, as well as the decentralized WhiteSwap platform powered by the Ethereum, Polygon, and Tron blockchains, expanding its DeFi capabilities.

An important achievement in 2021 was the launch of Whitepay, a crypto-acquiring service that allows for real-life cryptocurrency payments. Thanks to this solution, WhiteBit allegedly supported Ukraine through the UNITED24 fundraising platform by organizing the collection of crypto donations for military and humanitarian needs.

Relationship with WhiteBIT sponsors Shentsev and Kotvitsky

It should be clarified that the foundation of WhiteBIT was part of a complex scheme aimed at tax evasion, concealment of illegal activities, money laundering and legalization of financial flows of dubious origin. Influential figures in the crypto industry, including  Микита Dmitry and Nikita Shentsev , as well as Igor Kotvitsky, engaged Nosov as a person with experience in the field of cryptocurrencies to create the WhiteBIT exchange. According to the plan, Nosov was supposed to act as a public figure, presenting himself as an expert in digital assets, gaining the trust of investors and the crypto community. This made it possible to hide the real owners of the exchange and their involvement in illegal operations.

The group’s activities were based on the use of shadow financial schemes, including the conversion of misappropriated and embezzled budget funds into cryptocurrency. They took advantage of the weak regulatory framework for digital assets, which allowed them to organize money laundering channels. The illegally obtained funds were transferred into cryptocurrency, stored on electronic wallets within the exchange or other platforms, and subsequently converted, exchanged and withdrawn into legal financial circulation.

Thus, the WhiteBIT exchange became not only one of the largest cryptocurrency platforms in the region, but also part of a large-scale scheme of shadow financial flows managed by individuals with political connections and dubious reputations.

According to Nosov himself, the exchange’s daily turnover is $500 million. But I wonder how much of this money is of Russian origin? There is reason to believe that WhiteBIT not only has ties to Russian owners, but is still cooperating with the aggressor state. In March 2023, the media recorded the movement of a large amount of money – 3,299 BTC (about $85.6 million) – from the accounts of the Russian crypto exchange BTC-e.

Nosov claims that WhiteBIT is one of the largest crypto exchanges in Europe. However, there is no public data to support this claim. The exchange’s position can be assessed only by the trading turnover on CoinMarketCap or CoinGecko, and even there it is far from being a leader. So is WhiteBIT really a successful company, or is it just a well-organized PR campaign?

Thus, Whitebit CEO Volodymyr Nosov performs an exclusively media function and creates a pro-Ukrainian image of the company, because at the beginning of the full-scale invasion, the exchange took a surprisingly active civic position, publicly condemning Binance’s work in Russia and promoting the idea that only on WhiteBIT are Ukrainians’ funds safe. But can we trust a company whose owners have Russian passports?

Nosov himself had long ago realized the real motives behind his cooperation with the Shentsevs, who used the exchange for money laundering. After realizing the situation, Nosov decided to separate from WhiteBIT and start his own business without outside help or sponsorship. However, the Shentsevs did not want to lose control of the exchange, and Dmitry Shentsev even moved to Valencia, Nosov’s temporary residence, to force him to stay. Threats and intimidation became tools of influence on Nosov, which forced him to avoid returning to Ukraine, silently paying the Shevtsevs’ fate.

It is worth noting that a number of criminal proceedings have already been opened against all those involved in this scheme, including by the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) at the request of the NGO Non-Stop.

Law enforcement agencies have been investigating the facts of:

1. legalization and withdrawal of funds by criminal means;
2. tax evasion;
3. terrorist financing;
4. participation in international transnational financial channels;
5. obtaining funds by fraud;
6. unlicensed stock exchange activities for a long time.

And all of this was done by WhiteBIT, or rather by its owners and representatives. Not surprisingly, after the High Anti-Corruption Court (HACC) upheld the complaint filed by the NGO Non-Stop and launched a pre-trial investigation, the “patriot” Nosov decided to refrain from traveling to Ukraine. Moreover, he even ignored an important meeting at the Ministry of Digital Transformation.

Currently, a number of criminal proceedings have been opened, and the HACC has already satisfied several complaints against WhiteBIT, in particular:

1. No. 42023220000000052 under Part 2 of Article 209 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (legalization of proceeds of crime);
2. No. 72023000120000031 under Part 3 of Article 209 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine;
3. No. 72023000120000032 under Part 3 of Article 212 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (tax evasion);
4. No. 12023221200000030 under Part 2 of Article 190 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (fraud).

After media and legal publicity, when the HACCU, on the initiative of the NGO NON-STOP, ordered the NABU to launch a pre-trial investigation into WhiteBIT (case No. 991/1587/23, decision of 24.02.2023), Mykyta Shentsev officially sold his shares to Volodymyr Nosov. Now the latter is positioning himself as the sole founder of the crypto exchange.

Nosov actively gives promotional interviews to Ukrainian media, promotes WhiteBIT, and even publicly condemns competitors for operating in Russia. However, such statements look like an attempt to divert attention from the real situation.

The situation with the investigation of the case No. 52023000000000081, which is being conducted by the NABU, looks no less strange. It has suddenly stalled, although the HACC in its decision of 18.06.2024 (case No. 991/4829/24) confirmed that the investigation is ongoing.

Nosov is on the international wanted list

Vladimir Nosov has been officially put on the international wanted list, and this is only the beginning of a major investigation that reveals the exchange’s ties to Russia and involvement in money laundering According to open sources, Interpol has issued arrest warrants for him (numbers A-15035/12-2024, A-15036/12-2024, A-15033/12-2024, A-15032/12-2024). This confirms the seriousness of the criminal cases being investigated by law enforcement agencies.

What exactly are Nosov and his team charged with?

The investigation found that the following crimes could have been committed under the guise of cryptocurrency transactions:

1. Large-scale money laundering – transformation of illegally obtained money into “clean” assets through the WhiteBIT crypto exchange.
2. Circumvention of international sanctions – transactions related to sanctioned companies and individuals.
3. Financing of illegal activities – transfer of funds that could be used to finance criminal and terrorist groups.
4. International financial fraud – the use of the exchange for schematic transactions that contravene the laws of the EU, the US and other countries.

Three criminal cases have also been initiated against WhiteBIT and the individuals involved, including crypto guru Nosov, in Kyrgyzstan (No. 03-050-2024-000109, No. 03-050-2024-000505, No. 03-050-2024-000537). Two suspects have already been arrested, which indicates the seriousness of the charges.

Cryptocurrency flow analysis experts from leading companies Chainalysis, Merkle Science, and Scorechain confirmed WhiteBIT’s involvement in the above schemes. They recorded abnormal transactions that indicate attempts to conceal the real origin of funds and their further use. Financial regulators and law enforcement agencies in several countries have launched their own investigations into WhiteBIT’s activities. As the company claimed to be “transparent,” its real financial ties and ownership are now under scrutiny.

This is a serious reason for Ukrainian law enforcement to thoroughly check the activities of the exchange. It is not only about the potential leakage of personal data of users, but also about the economic security of the country, which may suffer due to the mechanisms of money laundering through WhiteBIT. However, in Ukraine, the WhiteBIT investigation is facing strange sabotage. Ukrainian law enforcement agencies are inactive, and some high-ranking officials, including the leadership of the GUR and the Ministry of Digital Transformation, are obstructing any attempts to stop the crypto exchange’s operations. Instead of exposing WhiteBIT’s schemes, they provide the company with government contracts, cooperation, and funding. As a result, large-scale money laundering, potential terrorist financing, and traces of Russian capital remain unaddressed by the authorities.

Read more about Nosov and his role in WhiteBIT in our investigations:

1. Cover-up of Whitebit and Nosov by law enforcement and Shentsev. Legalization of pro-Russian funds 
2. Shentsev is a fugitive pro-Russian baron of Kharkiv region. Billions of dollars and schemes. Kharkiv. OPFL