German-Swiss Raid: Crypto Mixer with €1.3 Billion in Turnover Shut Down

Swiss and German law enforcement authorities took the crypto mixer "Cryptomixer" offline in Zurich last week. This was announced by Europol in a current press release ^[1].

According to investigators, the platform served as a central hub for money laundering from various areas of cybercrime, including drug and weapons trafficking, ransomware attacks, and credit card fraud. Since 2016, funds worth more than €1.3 billion are said to have been transferred through the platform ^[1].

During the operation, authorities seized bitcoin worth €25 million as well as approximately 12 terabytes of data. It initially remained unclear whether an investigation has been launched against the operators ^[1].

Mixing services significantly obscure the traceability of transactions on the blockchain and are therefore in the focus of law enforcement. The raid is reminiscent of the shutdown of "Tornado Cash" in 2022. One of the developers of that platform was recently convicted in the United States and faces up to five years in prison ^[1].