German prosecutors and police shut down platform suspected of laundering stolen cryptocurrencies
Germany Seizes $38 Million From Cryptocurrency Platform Suspected of Laundering Funds Stolen in Bybit and Genesis Hacks
The exchange has become a hub for illegal cryptocurrency transfers worth more than $1.9 billion, with funds linked to both known hacks and phishing schemes, authorities said.
Author: Shaurya Malwa | Edited by: Sheldon Reback Updated: May 9, 2025, 7:54 PM Published: May 9, 2025, 9:42 AM
Important facts:
German authorities have shut down the crypto exchange eXch, seizing $38 million worth of tokens and more than 8 terabytes of data.
The platform is suspected of being involved in laundering hundreds of millions of dollars from major cryptocurrency leaks, including the Bybit hack and the Genesis accounts payable theft.
Investigators estimate that eXch processed more than $1.9 billion in cryptocurrency transactions, much of which is believed to have been obtained illegally.
German authorities have shut down crypto exchange eXch, seizing €34 million ($38 million) in tokens and over 8 terabytes of data in one of the country's largest law enforcement operations aimed at stopping alleged cryptocurrency laundering.
Frankfurt prosecutors and the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) reportedly dismantled eXch's server infrastructure on April 30, just a day before the platform's operators planned to shut it down.
Authorities have pointed to suspicions that the platform was used to launder hundreds of millions of dollars in cryptocurrency stolen in major breaches, including the $1.5 billion Bybit hack, the $243 million Genesis accounts payable theft, and multiple phishing campaigns to extort funds.
The platform “specifically advertised on criminal platforms that it did not implement anti-money laundering measures,” according to an automated translation of the press release. “Users were not required to identify themselves to the service, and user data was not stored. Therefore, exchanging cryptocurrencies via eXch was especially convenient for hiding financial flows.”
The prosecution comes after years of allegations that eXch, which has operated under the domain “eXch(dot)cx” and other domains since 2014, deliberately ignored anti-money laundering protocols, failed to comply with user identification requirements, and marketed itself on darknet forums as an anonymous, high-speed crypto mixing service.
The service supported exchanges between Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Litecoin (LTC) and Dash (DASH) without any registration.
Investigators say the exchange has handled more than $1.9 billion in cryptocurrency over its lifetime, much of which is believed to have been obtained illegally.
The closure adds to a growing list of regulatory measures targeting illicit crypto infrastructure across Europe, following similar actions against services like ChipMixer, Sinbad and Hydra over the past two years.
