By PAUL O’DONOGHUE, Senior Correspondent
GERMANY’S Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) has shut down the eXch crypto platform and seized its online infrastructure, citing allegations of large-scale money laundering.
The takedown took place on April 30, 2025. Authorities confiscated around 8 terabytes of data and digital assets worth €34 million ($38.25 million) in Bitcoin, Ether, Litecoin, and Dash, the BKA said.
The platform, active since 2014, offered cryptocurrency swapping services and was accessible via both the clearnet and the dark web. According to the BKA, it was widely advertised in underground markets and promoted its lack of anti-money laundering (AML) measures.
“Users were neither required to identify themselves to the service, nor was user data stored there,” the agency said. “Crypto swapping via eXch was therefore particularly suitable for concealing financial flows.”
eXch allegations
Investigators estimate that around $1.9 billion in cryptocurrency was exchanged via the service since its launch. This includes some proceeds linked to North Korean actors involved in the Bybit hack earlier this year.
The shutdown follows eXch’s own announcement on April 17 that it would cease operations. In a post on BitcoinTalk, the operators said they had “received confirmation of information” indicating the platform was the “subject of an active transatlantic operation aimed at forcibly shutting our project down and prosecuting us for ‘money laundering and terrorism.’”
“The goals we certainly never had in mind were to enable illicit activities such as money laundering or terrorism,” the statement said.
It added: “We also have absolutely no motivation to operate a project where we are viewed as criminals.”
On May 2, blockchain intelligence firm TRM Labs reported that eXch had processed more than $300,000 in funds linked to child sexual abuse material (CSAM) actors. The firm said the service had gained a reputation for avoiding transparency.
“Although eXch publicly positioned itself as a privacy-focused exchange, it developed a reputation for obstructing ecosystem accountability,” TRM Labs said. “This was demonstrated by it refusing to assist Bybit in freezing funds potentially connected to its hack.”
Following the seizure, the Dutch Fiscal Information and Investigation Service (FIOD) confirmed it is investigating individuals suspected of laundering money and committing other crimes through the platform.
In a statement, the FIOD said: “This action is not an attack on privacy. We respect the right to privacy and recognize its importance in the digital age. However, when services are heavily abused to commit crime, we will act.”
“We urge everyone involved in illicit activity to cease immediately,” it added. “The legal consequences can be serious. Privacy is not the problem – criminal misuse is.”
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