Germany Shuts Down eXch Crypto Exchange in Major Anti-Laundering Operation

German authorities have dismantled crypto exchange eXch, seizing €34 million ($38 million) in digital assets and more than 8 terabytes of data in one of the country’s largest crypto-related law enforcement actions to date. The Frankfurt Public Prosecutor’s Office and the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) took down the platform’s servers on April 30, just a day before it was set to shut down voluntarily.

The crackdown targets suspected large-scale crypto money laundering. eXch is believed to have facilitated the laundering of hundreds of millions in stolen crypto from high-profile incidents, including the $1.5 billion Bybit hack, the $243 million Genesis creditor theft, and multiple phishing drainer campaigns. Authorities said eXch openly promoted itself on darknet forums as an anonymous crypto-swapping platform, boasting no anti-money laundering (AML) compliance or user identification protocols.

Operating since 2014 through domains like eXch(dot)cx, the platform allowed users to swap bitcoin (BTC), ether (ETH), litecoin (LTC), and dash (DASH) without registration. According to investigators, over $1.9 billion in digital assets flowed through eXch, much of it tied to criminal activity.

The platform’s deliberate disregard for AML laws and its appeal to underground markets made it a prime target for enforcement. The service's lack of KYC (Know Your Customer) protocols and full anonymity made it ideal for obscuring illicit financial flows.

This enforcement action adds to a growing list of European crackdowns on crypto-related crime, following past takedowns of services like ChipMixer, Sinbad, and Hydra. As regulatory pressure intensifies, European authorities continue targeting crypto infrastructures linked to illegal finance.