Alexander Smirnov: The Hunter Biden source who ran an ICO

Alexander Smirnov was a key source for the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) probe into Hunter Biden’s role at Ukrainian gas and oil company Burisma. Grand jury charges allege that he fabricated the story and also revealed his connections to the cryptocurrency industry.

The charges detail how one of Smirnov’s associates, identified as ‘Associate 2,’ was “an American who owned a cryptocurrency business.” Smirnov allegedly presented this associate to Burisma to see if it would be interested in using their crypto product. Unfortunately for this associate, “the Burisma representatives weren’t interested.”

Furthermore, the document details how another associate — Associate 1 — “also works for” someone “who is the founder/CEO of cryptocurrency and blockchain technology business.”

The grand jury documents don’t explicitly reveal the identity of these crypto executives or the nature of these blockchain firms, but there is some evidence of Smirnov’s previous work in the industry that may provide a clue.

Press releases from 2017 and 2018 describe a product called ‘LH-Crypto,’ which was promoted by an Alexander Smirnov. This product was launched in cooperation with Larson & Holz, a foreign exchange broker that made sure to promote the crypto to its customers.

LH-Crypto was an initial coin offering (ICO) that intended to offer margin trading for crypto traders, with the firm’s chief executive George Pavloff describing the target market for this token as “crypto traders who want to trade more than just crypto instruments.”

The token listed several important advisers, including Yan Art, who is described as the “vice president at the Association of Russian Banks.”