A coalition of legislation enforcement companies coordinated by Europol introduced Monday the shuttering of cryptocurrency laundering service Cryptomixer.
Europol confirmed the seizure in a press launch, the place it referred to as Cryptomixer “the platform of alternative for cybercriminals looking for to launder unlawful proceeds from a wide range of prison actions, resembling drug trafficking, weapons trafficking, ransomware assaults, and cost card fraud.”
Since 2016, Europol stated, Cryptomixer facilitated the laundering of 1.3 billion euros ($1.5 billion) in bitcoin.
Hackers and different criminals use laundering providers resembling Cryptomixer to obfuscate and conceal the provenance of their cryptocurrency. By design, cryptocurrencies resembling Bitcoin and Ethereum are constructed on public blockchains that permit legislation enforcement, in addition to blockchain intelligence companies resembling Chainalysis and Elliptic, to observe the cash over time.
Authorities stated they seized $25 million euros ($29 million) in bitcoin, together with three servers, 12 terabytes of knowledge, and the official area cryptomixer.io, which now shows the customary legislation enforcement seizure splash web page.
In accordance with Europol, the positioning “facilitated the obfuscation of prison funds for ransomware teams, underground economic system boards and darkish internet markets,” and claimed its software program “blocked the traceability of funds on the blockchain.”
“Deposited funds from numerous customers had been pooled for a protracted and randomised interval earlier than being redistributed to vacation spot addresses, once more at random instances. As many digital currencies present a public ledger of all transactions, mixing providers make it tough to hint particular cash, thus concealing the origin of cryptocurrency,” Europol stated.
Techcrunch occasion
San Francisco
|
October 13-15, 2026
Cryptomixer supplied prospects anonymity, resembling offering cowl for cybercriminals who needed to launder their crypto earlier than taking the funds to authentic cryptocurrency exchanges. Europol stated the “cleaned” cryptocurrency may very well be swapped for different cryptocurrencies or fiat money.
Over time, authorities have shut down or sanctioned a number of related providers, resembling Twister Money, Chipmixer, and others.
