In a major blow to illicit crypto operations, German law enforcement has shut down eXch, a cryptocurrency exchange accused of facilitating the laundering of billions in stolen digital assets.
Acting just hours ahead of the platform’s planned shutdown, the Frankfurt Public Prosecutor’s Office and the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) seized €34 million ($38 million) worth of crypto and more than 8 terabytes of data from eXch on April 30. Officials say the service had been active since 2014 and operated under multiple domains, including eXch(dot)cx.
Investigators estimate the exchange processed over $1.9 billion in cryptocurrency, with much of it tied to cybercrime — including funds linked to the $1.5 billion Bybit breach, the $243 million Genesis creditor hack, and an array of phishing and wallet-draining attacks.
Authorities allege eXch was designed to bypass anti-money laundering rules entirely. The platform required no user identification or registration and was openly promoted in underground forums as a high-speed, anonymous crypto-mixing service.
“The platform specifically advertised that it implemented no AML measures, making it especially useful for hiding financial flows,” investigators said in a statement.
Supporting swaps between bitcoin (BTC), ether (ETH), litecoin (LTC), and dash (DASH), eXch offered criminals a simple way to convert and conceal stolen funds.
The takedown is one of Germany’s most significant law enforcement actions against crypto-enabled financial crime to date and comes amid a broader European clampdown on laundering tools. It follows recent crackdowns on services such as ChipMixer, Sinbad, and Hydra, signaling a coordinated effort to dismantle crypto platforms catering to the digital underground.
