Coin scramblers, which allow users to obfuscate their transactions, have been targeted by law enforcement agencies around the world. ChipMixer is the latest to face a similar crackdown.
In an operation carried out by German and US authorities, and backed by the European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation (Europol), police seized four servers, around 1909.4 Bitcoins in a series of 55 transactions (almost $47 million) and 7TB of data. from the cryptocurrency mixing service for his alleged involvement in money laundering activities.
Other national authorities involved in the crackdown include the Zurich Cantonal Police, the Polish Cybercrime Central Office, as well as the Belgian Federal Police.
Orientation ChipMixer
According to the Press releaseEuropol revealed that ChipMixer is a license-free cryptocurrency mixer created in mid-2017, accessible on both the light and dark web.
The joint investigation revealed that ChipMixer allegedly laundered 152,000 Bitcoins, most of which are linked to dark web marketplaces, ransomware groups, illicit goods trafficking, acquisition of child sexual exploitation material, and stolen crypto assets. .
The European law enforcement agency further stated that it was the crackdown on the Hydra Market dark web platform that helped them uncover transactions worth millions of euros.
ChipMixer’s service was reportedly used by prominent ransomware actors such as Zeppelin, SunCrypt, Mamba, Dharma, or Lockbit to launder ransom payments they had received.
“Authorities are also looking into the possibility that some of the crypto assets stolen after a large crypto exchange went bankrupt in 2022 may have been laundered through ChipMixer.”
Illegitimate use of coin mixers
Cryptocurrency mixing or tumbler platforms essentially work by receiving digital assets from users, mixing them with other currencies, and then sending the equivalent amount of “mixed” coins to a recipient’s address, thus hiding the connection between the sender and the recipient. . ChipMixer worked in a similar way. It would convert the deposited funds into “chips”, which would then be scrambled to hide all traces of where the initial funds originated from.
These glasses have legitimate use cases for the most part. However, the fact that these services have become attractive tools for cybercriminals has redoubled their efforts to take them down.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) accused Tornado Cash of facilitating users to launder billions of dollars in digital assets, including $455 million allegedly stolen by notorious North Korean hacker Lazarus. The sanctions froze US assets held by Tornado Cash and barred companies and individuals in the country from doing business with it.
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