The Federal Criminal Police Office of Germany (BKA) has seized $38 million worth of digital assets from eXch over money laundering allegations. According to an announcement on Friday by the BKA and the main prosecutor’s office of Frankfurt, the operation led to the confiscation of assets like BTC, ETH, LTC, and DASH.Â
The funds from eXch is one of the largest seizures in the history of the BKA. As revealed, in the last few years, hackers have used the platform as a centralized crypto mixer, facilitating money laundering.
Among the high-profile illegal operations of eXch is how the platform allegedly helped in laundering assets from the largest crypto cyber attack in history—Bybit’s $1.4 billion hack. As part of the clampdown, the enforcement agencies also impounded the platform’s German server system with more than eight terabytes of data.
Currently, authorities in Germany have shut down the platform to further prevent its usage for criminal operations. The move brings an end to the 11 years of operation of eXch that has helped carry out about $1.9 billion in the illicit movement of funds.
Furthermore, the BKA said the exchange has been operating since 2014 as a swapping service that permits users to exchange numerous cryptocurrencies. In the statement, the law enforcement body disclosed that since the commencement of its operations, eXch refused to implement Anti-Money Laundering (AML) measures within its platform.
Due to that, the BKA stated that the platform has helped move stained funds including the loot from Bybit hack.
How the platform announced the suspension of its operations before the clampdown
However, before the shutdown, eXch has hinted about the potential cease of operation in April. In a post, the platform discussed how it operated despite various attempts to shut down its systems.
The platform established that it has no reason to remain active in a hostile environment because regulators failed to understand its core purpose. Additionally, eXch revealed that in recent times, it has been a target of Signals Intelligence (SIGINT).
Allegations about the usage of eXch for money laundering
Blockchain investigator ZachXBT in a post accused eXch of assisting in the movement of millions of funds from top exploits like Multisig, FixedFloat, and the $243 million Genesis creditor heist. The blockchain security expert said the exchange supported numerous phishing drainer services in the last few years.
ZachXBT also discussed how the outlet failed to block addresses and freeze orders involved in stained funds. Similarly, the blockchain sleuth reported how various pointers established that eXch helped launder $35 million from the Bybit hack. Meanwhile, the platform has denied the allegations.
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