In a landmark operation, German law enforcement has successfully shut down the cryptocurrency exchange eXch, seizing assets worth approximately 34 million euros ($38 million) in tokens and collecting over 8 terabytes of crucial data. This action marks one of the most significant law-enforcement efforts in the country to combat suspected cryptocurrency laundering activities.
The operation was executed on April 30 by the Frankfurt Public Prosecutor’s Office in collaboration with the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA), just one day prior to eXch’s planned shutdown, as detailed in a statement released on Thursday.
Authorities believe that eXch played a pivotal role in laundering hundreds of millions of euros from stolen cryptocurrency originating from major security breaches, including high-profile incidents like the $1.5 billion Bybit hack and the $243 million theft related to Genesis creditors, in addition to various phishing campaigns targeting unsuspecting users.
According to the official release, the platform actively promoted its services in the criminal underground by claiming that it did not enforce anti-money laundering (AML) measures. Users were neither required to undergo identity verification nor was user data retained, making eXch a preferred option for concealing financial transactions.
eXch has been under scrutiny for several years, having operated since 2014 under the domain “eXch(dot)cx” among others. The platform was notorious for disregarding AML protocols, neglecting user identification, and marketing itself on darknet forums as a fast, anonymous crypto-mixing service.
Facilitating swaps among cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Litecoin (LTC), and Dash (DASH) without any registration requirements, eXch saw a staggering flow of over $1.9 billion in crypto throughout its operational history, a significant portion of which is believed to be linked to criminal activities.
This crackdown is part of a broader trend of increasing regulatory actions against illicit cryptocurrency infrastructures across Europe. Following similar operations targeting services such as ChipMixer, Sinbad, and Hydra over the past two years, authorities are sending a clear message that they are committed to rooting out illegal activities within the cryptocurrency space.
