America Justice Department ,DOJ) And europol announced the removal chipmixerDescribed as “one of the darkweb’s largest cryptocurrency laundromats”.
The DoJ announced “a coordinated international takedown” of Mixer’s infrastructure on March 15 for alleged involvement in money laundering activities. It laundered over $3 billion worth of crypto between 2017 and March 2023 through activities such as ransomware, darknet markets, fraud, crypto heists, and various hacks. Said Press release.
The agency said that,
“The operation included US federal law enforcement’s court-authorized seizure of two domains that provided users with the Chipmixer service and a Github account, as well as the German Federal Criminal Police (Bundeskriminalamt) seizure of the Chipmixer back-end servers and more.” $46 million in cryptocurrency.”
The DOJ named Minh Quoc Nguyen, 49, of Hanoi, Vietnam, as the creator and promoter of Mixer, the agency said, adding that he publicly ridiculed efforts to reduce money laundering in an online post, saying that anti-money laundering (AML) and know-your-customer (KYC) “are a sellout for banks and governments,” advising clients “please do not use AML/KYC exchanges,” and urging them to avoid these requirements To give instructions on how to use the chipmixer for
Nguyen was charged in Philadelphia, United States with money laundering, operating a money-transmitting business without a license, and identity theft. If convicted, he faces a maximum sentence of 40 years in prison.
Also on Wednesday European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation (Europol) Said that it assisted German and American officials, supported by belgium, polandAnd Switzerlandin taking down Chipmixer, saying they forfeited 1,909.4 bitcoin (btc) in 55 transactions.
“The Criminal Service’s investigation suggests that the platform may have facilitated the laundering of 152 000 bitcoins (about 2.73 billion euros in current estimates) in crypto assets,” Europol said. “A large portion of this is linked to dark web markets, ransomware groups, trafficking of illegal goods, purchase of child sexual abuse material and stolen crypto assets.”
According to the DOJ, between August 2017 and March 2023, Chipmixer processed:
- $17 Million in Bitcoin for Criminals Linked to 37 Ransomware Strains;
- More than $700 million in bitcoins linked to wallets named as stolen funds linked to robbery by North Korean cyber actors xi infinity‘S ronin bridge And harmony‘S skyline bridge in 2022 and 2020 respectively;
- Over $200 million in bitcoin linked to darknet markets, including over $60 million in bitcoin processed on behalf of customers hydra marketThe world’s largest and longest running darknet market until it is shut down by US and German law enforcement in April 2022;
- More than $35 million in bitcoin linked to “fraudulent shops,” which are used by criminals to buy and sell stolen credit cards, hacked account credentials, and data stolen through network intrusions Is;
- bitcoin is used by Russian General Staff Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU), 85th Main Special Service Center, Military Unit 26165, to purchase infrastructure for the Drovorub malware.
‘One of the Largest Crypto Laundromats’
Europol said Chipmixer was “an unlicensed cryptocurrency mixer” launched in 2017. Its software blocked the blockchain trail of funds, “making it attractive to cybercriminals” involved in drug trafficking, arms trafficking and payment card fraud, among other illegal activities.
The deposited funds would be converted into small tokens called “chips”, which would then be merged together. The platform offered complete anonymity to its customers.
The agency also claimed that criminals laundered crypto and redirected it to crypto exchanges, “some of which are also in the service of organized crime,” and added that,
“Authorities are also investigating the possibility that some of the stolen crypto assets were laundered through chipmixers following the bankruptcy of a major crypto exchange in 2022.”
The DOJ noted that Chipmixer had a clarinet web domain but was primarily a tow Hidden service so that its server location is hidden from law enforcement to prevent seizure. It served “multiple clients” in the US but did not register with Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) nor does it collect identifying information about its customers.
Jacqueline Romero, US Attorney for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, was quoted as saying,
“Platforms like Chipmixer, which are designed to hide the sources and destinations of staggering amounts of criminal proceeds, undermine public trust in cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology.”
Europol and its Joint Cyber Crime Action Taskforce (J-CAT) facilitated the exchange of information between national authorities, supported the coordination of operations, provided analytical support to link available data to different criminal cases within and outside the EU, and operational Supported investigations through analysis, crypto tracing and forensic analysis. ,
National authorities involved include Belgium. federal police, German Federal Criminal Police Office And General Prosecutor’s Office Frankfurt-Main, Polish Central Cyber Crime Bureau, of Switzerland cantonal police of zurich, and the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), homeland security investigationDOJ.
According to Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco,
“Cybercrime seeks to exploit borders, but the Department of Justice’s network of alliances crosses borders and disrupts the criminal activities that threaten our global cyber security.”
FBI Deputy Director Paul Abbate commented that combating cybercrime “requires the ultimate level of cooperation between and among all law enforcement partners.”
Meanwhile, the U.S. treasury department re-designated on restrictions tornado cache In November, it said that North Korea’s Lazarus Group had used the mixing service to launder more than $100m stolen in crypto heists. Treasury Department Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) before Accepted Tornado Cash in August last year, when it said the service “repeatedly failed to implement effective controls designed to prevent malicious cyber actors from laundering money.”
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