Authorities shut down Bitcoin mixer ChipMixer, seize $46.6M

ambcrypto.com:

Bitcoin mixer – ChipMixer has been shut down by authorities, as per an announcement by Europol. The operation involved the collaboration of regulatory authorities from various countries. The operation also resulted in the seizure of four servers, over 1909.4 Bitcoins (BTC) – over $46.6 million (nearly EUR 44.2 million), and 7 TB of data.

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Multiple agencies collaborate to bring down the Bitcoin mixer

United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Homeland Security Investigation, and Department of Justice took part in taking down the platform. Germany’s Federal Criminal Police Office and General Prosecutors Office Frankfurt-Main also headed the operations. Others included Belgium’s Federal police, Poland’s Central Cybercrime Bureau, and Switzerland’s Cantonal Police of Zurich. The press release further said,

“The ChipMixer software blocked the blockchain trail of the funds, making it attractive for cybercriminals looking to launder illegal proceeds from criminal activities such as drug trafficking, weapons trafficking, ransomware attacks, and payment card fraud.”

Moreover, Europol claims that the Bitcoin mixer, launched in mid-2017, was used to launder over $2.87 billion in cryptocurrencies. A majority of this activity was related to markets in the darkweb, stolen cryptocurrencies, and illegal goods trafficking.

Notably, ransomware groups like Mamba, Dharma, Zeppelin, and others have the Bitcoin mixer to launder illegally obtained funds. In addition, the regulatory authorities are investigating the platform’s possible association with the funds related to the now-bankrupt crypto exchange – FTX. The authorities are investigating whether the mixer was used by