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Authorities in Europe have shut down a popular crypto company called Cryptomixer over suspected facilitation of cybercrime and money laundering.
Founded in 2016, Cryptomixer is a cryptocurrency mixer.
Related: Popular crypto company shuts down as Bitcoin crashes
A crypto mixer or tumbler is a platform that mixes up different crypto assets so that no transaction can be properly tracked.
Touted as privacy-focused services, crypto mixers such as Tornado Cash and Cryptomixer have come under intense scrutiny for allegedly helping cover up the tracks of illicit crypto funds.
The European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation or Europol, the law enforcement agency of the European Union (EU), supported law enforcement authorities from Switzerland and Germany in Zurich, Switzerland, during Nov. 24-28 to take down Cryptomixer, Europol said on Dec. 1.
The authorities seized Cryptomixer servers and over $29 million worth of Bitcoin (BTC) during the operation in Switzerland.
Europol claimed the service was accessible via both the clear web and the dark web, helping ransomware groups and dark web markets obfuscate their criminal funds.
Since it doesn't allow crypto funds to be tracked, it gained popularity among cybercriminals seeking a platform to launder illicit proceeds from criminal activities, such as drug trafficking, weapons trafficking, ransomware attacks, and payment card fraud, the EU agency said.
Cryptomixer has helped mix over $1.5 billion in BTC since its creation in 2016, the agency further claimed.
The Federal Criminal Police Office, the Prosecutor General’s Office Frankfurt am Main, and the Cyber Crime Centre from Germany and the Zurich City Police, the Zurich Cantonal Police, and the Public Prosecutor’s Office Zurich from Switzerland participated in the joint anti-crypto crackdown operation.
