Money laundering has been one of the key problems associated with cryptocurrencies. With hackers and scammers using cryptocurrency mixers like Tornado Cash and ChipMixer, money laundering activities have been on the rise. The shutdown of the Tornado Cash platform was one of the key moves in bringing down money laundering activities.
According to the latest report, the German and US authorities, with the support of Europol, have taken down the popular cryptocurrency mixer called ChipMixer. The collaborative investigation, which was also supported by Poland, Switzerland, and Belgium, helped to take down the platform on March 15. ChipMixer was taken down on the grounds of alleged money laundering activities.
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1909.4 bitcoins seized from ChipMixer by authorities
The collective investigation by the authorities helped to seize 4 servers and also 1909.4 bitcoins, which are worth around €44.2 million, and gathered 7TB of data. ChipMixer has always been a cybercriminals’ favorite as they helped to launder the illegal proceeds from activities including hacking and spamming.
Since its inception in 2017, the mixer has been a pathway for several illicit activities, including payment card fraud, weapons trafficking, ransomware attacks, etc. The platform basically helps to conceal the initial source of the funds, helping the illicit actors get away with the funds.
The investigation carried out came to the conclusion that the cryptocurrency mixer has helped with the laundering of 152,000 bitcoins, which were worth roughly €2.73 billion. It has also come to light that some of the ransomware actors, including Zeppelin, SunCrypt, Mamba, Dharma, and Lockbit, have used the ChipMixer for laundering activities. The authorities also speak about the possibility that some of the stolen assets from the collapse of the FTX exchange were also moved through the mixer.
