- Europol and its partners shut down Cryptomixer.io, a major cryptocurrency mixing service
- The operation confiscated servers, domain, 12 TB of data and $29 million in crypto assets
- Mixers often help cybercriminals; Previous takedowns include Bestmixer, ChipMixer, and Sinbad.
German and Swiss authorities, along with Europol, Eurojust, and US authorities, have taken down Cryptomixer.io, reportedly one of the largest cryptocurrency mixing services out there.
As the name suggests, this is a service that “mixes” cryptocurrencies. Due to its transparent and pseudonymous nature, most cryptocurrency transactions can be traced quite easily, and if the user exposes their identity at any point (for example, spends some cryptocurrency in a coffee shop covered with security cameras), their entire transaction history can be traced.
Since cryptocurrencies are the currency of choice for many cybercriminals, this is a problem. That’s where the ‘mixers’ come in. Criminals can send stolen money to the service, where it is “mixed” (merged or broken) with other tokens and then returned (at a random time, to a newly generated random address).
Servers, domains, data and money, all seized
Although most mixer developers will say that their idea is not to facilitate crime but to protect privacy, it is well established that many mixer users take advantage of the service for non-legitimate reasons.
This is the reason why services are constantly attacked by law enforcement. Before Cryptomixer.io, police took down Bestmixer.io (2019), ChipMixer (2023), and Sinbad.io (2023).
Earlier this week, Europol issued a new press release confirming that the service was closed on Monday. It has been in operation since 2016 and was “one of the largest bitcoin mixers with billions of euros in revenue, the majority of which was obtained from criminal activities.”
The operation was led by Zurich law enforcement and resulted in the seizure of three servers in Switzerland, the internet domain cryptomixer.io and 12 terabytes of data that will later be used in subsequent investigations and in possible doxxing of numerous criminals.
Additionally, the police also confiscated around $29 million worth of cryptocurrency from the service.
“The results will also contribute to the investigation of future cybercrimes,” said the BKA, Germany’s federal investigation agency.
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