Germany just made waves in the crypto scene by seizing €34 million ($38M) in digital assets from eXch, a platform allegedly used to wash hacked funds—including part of the $1.4 billion Bybit exploit.
Authorities say eXch operated as a centralized crypto swap service since 2014, facilitating over $1.9 billion in unregulated transfers. What made it shady? It had zero Anti-Money Laundering (AML) protocols, making it a go-to for cybercriminals looking to clean their bags.
A major chunk of Bybit’s stolen ETH was funneled through eXch, according to on-chain sleuths like ZachXBT. He also tied the service to Genesis creditor thefts, FixedFloat, and phishing drainers.
On May 9, German officials raided eXch’s servers, seized 8TB of data, and pulled the plug. It’s now ranked as the third-largest crypto seizure in the country’s history.
After denying links to Bybit’s hack, eXch posted on Bitcoin Talk that it would shut down by May 1, citing “SIGINT pressure” and claiming it was misunderstood.
But prosecutors aren’t buying it. They’re cracking down on “anonymous money laundering tools” that enable global cybercrime.
This isn’t just a Germany problem—it’s a global crypto security wake-up call. With centralized mixers under fire, the message is clear: no KYC = no mercy.
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