German authorities have closed 47 cryptocurrency exchanges for their role in facilitating criminal activity, according to a joint statement from the Central Office for the Combating of Internet Crime (ZIT) and the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA).
The exchanges were deactivated after authorities determined they were 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 authorities, this lack of compliance with legal requirements is a direct violation of anti-money laundering laws.
The exchanges allowed transactions without requiring users to register or verify their identity, which violated the know-your-customer (KYC) principle. Authorities explained that such anonymous exchange services are a crucial part of cybercrime operations.
Criminals, including ransomware groups, darknet traders, and botnet operators, have reportedly used these platforms to illegally convert funds into regular currency.
In addition to shutting down the exchanges, German law enforcement secured extensive user and transaction data. With these actions, authorities aim to dismantle the infrastructure that supports cybercrime.
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 customer data, and that all data is deleted immediately after the transaction.
We found and seized their servers – development servers, production servers, backup servers. We have their data – and therefore also 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 worked with US authorities to seize the domain of Cryptonator, a platform that has not taken sufficient measures against money laundering.
In January, the BKA seized 50,000 Bitcoin from a piracy website that had been shut down in 2013. These assets were later divested during a month-long sell-off in July.
In addition, German authorities have recovered €90 million following the closure of ChipMixer. Other notable actions include the shutdown of Qakbot in 2023 and Emotet in 2021.