German Authorities Shut Down eXch Platform, Seize €34 Million in Assets

On April 30, German law enforcement shut down the cryptocurrency exchange platform eXch and confiscated assets worth €34 million.

The service, operational since 2014, had its servers located in Germany. Users could anonymously exchange Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, and Dash without identification. This made eXch a popular tool for money laundering, according to the Frankfurt General Prosecutor’s Office and the German Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA).

Investigations revealed that approximately $1.9 billion passed through eXch, including part of the $1.5 billion stolen in the Bybit exchange hack. The platform advertised itself on dark web forums, emphasizing the absence of KYC checks. User data was not stored.

The operation was conducted a day before eXch’s owners planned to cease operations. With support from the Dutch Fiscal Information and Investigation Service, 8 TB of data and crypto assets were seized. This marks the third-largest confiscation in BKA’s history.

“eXch is a key element of the underground economy. Anonymous exchange helps criminals launder proceeds from hacking attacks or trading stolen data,” stated Senior Prosecutor Benjamin Krause.

Head of the BKA’s cybercrime division, Karsten Maiwirth, noted that the platform operated “on an industrial scale.”

Earlier, on May 1, the FinCEN proposed disconnecting the Cambodia-based Huione Group from the U.S. financial system. The regulator accused the company of laundering $4 billion.