German authorities shutdown 47 crypto exchanges facilitating crime, seize servers, data

German authorities have shut down 47 cryptocurrency exchanges for their role in facilitating criminal activities, according to a joint statement from the Central Office for Combating Internet Crime (ZIT) and the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA).

The exchanges were deactivated after the authorities determined they had been involved in money laundering. The ZIT and BKA claim that the platforms allowed users to exchange crypto and other digital assets anonymously, concealing the origins of illicit funds.

According to the authorities, this lack of adherence to legal requirements is a direct violation of anti-money laundering laws.

The exchanges enabled transactions without requiring users to register or verify their identities, violating the know-your-customer (KYC) principle. Authorities explained that such anonymous exchange services are a critical part of cybercrime operations.

Criminals, including ransomware groups, darknet traders, and botnet operators, reportedly used these platforms to convert illegal funds into regular currency.

In addition to closing the exchanges, German law enforcement secured extensive user and transaction data. Authorities aim to dismantle the infrastructure supporting cybercrime through these actions.

The authorities stated:

“For years, the operators of these criminal exchange services have led you to believe that their hosting cannot be found, that they do not store any customer data and that all data is deleted immediately after the transaction.

We have found their servers and seized them – development servers, production servers, backup servers. We have their data – and therefore we have your data. Transactions, registration data, IP addresses.”

The crackdown comes amid an intensified effort by German authorities to combat illegal crypto activities. Recently, the BKA collaborated with US authorities to seize the domain of Cryptonator, a platform found to have insufficient anti-money laundering measures.

In January, the BKA seized 50,000 Bitcoin from a piracy website that had ceased operations in 2013. These assets were later divested during a month-long selling spree in July.

Furthermore, German authorities recovered €90 million after shutting down ChipMixer. Other notable actions include the closure of Qakbot in 2023 and Emotet in 2021.