Germany’s Federal Criminal Police Office just pulled off a massive crypto heist of their own, but this time, they’re the good guys.
They seized 34 million euros, that’s about $38 million, from a crypto platform called eXch.
Why? Because this shady exchange was the laundering ground for stolen loot from the Bybit hack.
Loot
This seizure ranks as the third-largest crypto confiscation in Germany’s history. Not small potatoes, guys.
The authorities didn’t just grab the cash, they also took down eXch’s German servers, hoarding over eight terabytes of data.
They shut the whole operation down, no more swaps on their watch.
Now, what was eXch exactly? According to the German cops, it was a swapping service that let users trade various cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Ether, Litecoin, and Dash, but without any Anti-Money Laundering checks. Nada.
Since 2014, this platform reportedly moved around $1.9 billion in crypto, and a good chunk of that was dirty money, including the stolen Bybit funds.
Wash me harder
The Bybit hack happened on February 21, 2025, and a slice of the $1.5 billion stolen apparently flowed right through eXch.
That’s some serious underground business. Crypto investigator ZachXBT spilled the beans, revealing that eXch also helped launder millions from other major crypto thefts like Multisig, FixedFloat, and a $243 million Genesis creditor scam.
Plus, eXch had a quite nasty habit of ignoring requests to block suspicious addresses or freeze transactions. Not a smart move.
ZachXBT was quick on the scene, tracking how the Lazarus Group moved 5,000 ETH from the Bybit hack through eXch, then converted it to Bitcoin via another platform called Chainflip. Talk about a well-oiled laundering machine.
Overwatch
At first, eXch denied any wrongdoing, but by mid-April, they threw in the towel, announcing they’d shut down by May 1. Their excuse?
Operating in a hostile environment where they were targeted by intelligence agencies.
Senior public prosecutor Benjamin Krause didn’t mince words. He pointed out how crypto swapping is a pretty important cog in the underground economy, letting criminals hide their stolen gains from hackers and fraudsters alike.
This crackdown sends a clear message, the days of quick, anonymous money laundering in crypto are numbered.
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