- Europol and partners shut down Cryptomixer.io, a major cryptocurrency mixing service
- Operation seized servers, domain, 12 TB of data and $29M in crypto assets
- Mixers often help cybercriminals; previous takedowns include Bestmixer, ChipMixer and Sinbad
German and Swiss authorities, along with Europol, Eurojust and US law enforcement, have taken down Cryptomixer.io – allegedly one of the largest cryptocurrency mixing services out there.
As the name suggests, this is a service that “mixes” cryptocurrencies. Due to their transparent and pseudonymous nature, most cryptocurrency transactions can be traced quite easily, and if the user reveals their identity at any point (for example, spending some crypto at a coffee shop covered by security cameras), their entire transaction history can be traced back.
Since crypto is the currency of choice for many cybercriminals, this is a problem. This is where ‘mixers’ come into play. Crooks can send stolen money to the service, where it is “mixed” (merged or split) with other tokens and then returned (at a random time, to a random, newly generated address).
Servers, domains, data and money, all seized
Although most mixer developers will say that their idea is not to facilitate crime, but rather to protect privacy, it is well established that many mixer users take advantage of the service for less than legitimate reasons.
This is why the services are constantly being targeted 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 shut down on Monday. It has been running since 2016 and was “one of the largest bitcoin mixers with billions of euros in revenue, most of which was obtained from criminal activities.”
The operation was led by law enforcement authorities in Zurich and resulted in the seizure of three servers in Switzerland, the internet domain cryptomixer.io and 12 terabytes of data, which will later be used in follow-up investigations and possible doxxing of several criminals.
In addition, police also seized about $29 million worth of cryptocurrencies from the service.
“The findings will also contribute to the investigation of further cybercrimes,” said the BKA, Germany’s federal investigative agency.
Via Pakinomist
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