Crypto Laundering Service Shut Down in Major Law Enforcement Bust
▼ Summary
– German and Swiss authorities, with EU support, have seized the illegal cryptocurrency mixer service Cryptomixer and confiscated over 25 million euros in Bitcoin.
– The operation involved seizing servers in Zurich and the cryptomixer.io domain, where a law enforcement warning was posted.
– Europol states that over 12 terabytes of seized data could contain logs to help identify the service’s users.
– Cryptomixer was a hybrid service used by criminals to launder funds from activities like ransomware, drug trafficking, and fraud, obscuring over 1.3 billion euros since 2016.
– This action follows a similar 2023 operation against the ChipMixer service, highlighting ongoing law enforcement efforts against cryptocurrency mixers.
A significant international law enforcement operation has successfully dismantled a major cryptocurrency laundering service, marking a substantial victory in the fight against cybercrime. Authorities in Germany and Switzerland, with crucial backing from Europol and Eurojust, have shut down the platform known as Cryptomixer. The operation resulted in the seizure of servers in Zurich and the service’s primary domain, where officials posted a clear warning about potential prosecution for its operators and users. Law enforcement confiscated more than 25 million euros in Bitcoin and obtained a massive trove of over 12 terabytes of data, which may hold critical information to identify individuals who utilized the service.
This enforcement action, carried out in late November 2025 under the banner of Operation Olympia, targeted a service that had become a cornerstone for financial obfuscation in the criminal underworld. Cryptomixer operated on both the public internet and dark web, providing a hybrid mixing service designed to break the traceable links on a blockchain. The platform was a popular choice for criminals involved in ransomware, dark web marketplaces, and various forms of fraud, effectively “cleaning” illicit funds so they could be funneled into legitimate exchanges or converted into cash.
According to investigative reports, the service processed an enormous volume of transactions since its inception. Europol estimates that Cryptomixer was used to launder over 1.3 billion euros in Bitcoin, facilitating crimes ranging from drug and weapons trafficking to payment card fraud. By scrambling the digital trail, these mixing services provide a critical layer of anonymity, allowing criminals to redirect laundered cryptocurrency to exchanges where it can be swapped for other digital assets or traditional fiat currency.
This crackdown follows a similar precedent set by global authorities, demonstrating an escalating focus on disrupting the crypto-based money laundering ecosystem. In a comparable move during March 2023, a coordinated action against the ChipMixer service led to the seizure of servers, data, and millions of euros in cryptocurrency. The latest operation against Cryptomixer sends a powerful message that law enforcement agencies are increasingly capable of penetrating these anonymizing services, potentially unraveling the financial networks that support serious cyber and traditional criminal enterprises.
(Source: HelpNet Security)
