EddieJayonCrypto
10 May 25
German authorities seized servers and cryptocurrency worth $37.4 million from eXch, a crypto exchange accused of operating without licenses and facilitating money laundering for North Korean hackers linked to the February Bybit hack. The Federal Criminal Police Office stated eXch lacked proper anti-...
German authorities have seized $37.4 million in cryptocurrency and server hardware from eXch, a now-defunct crypto exchange accused of operating without proper licenses and facilitating money laundering linked to North Korean hackers. The exchange allegedly lacked adequate anti-money laundering controls, attracting criminals aiming to launder stolen funds from various hacks and illicit activities.
eXch operated on both the clearnet and darknet, with its services advertised on underground criminal platforms. Despite announcing its closure last month, evidence suggests it continued operations. The platform is tied to laundering hundreds of millions from major crypto thefts, including the February Bybit hack connected to North Korea’s Lazarus Group, which stole over $1.4 billion.
Authorities revealed that eXch refused to cooperate with Bybit’s requests to block and freeze stolen funds, even publicly disclosing these requests and ignoring them. The confiscated assets include crypto holdings and server infrastructure critical to the exchange's operations.
The crackdown coincides with Germany’s participation in the upcoming G7 summit, where North Korea's cyber crimes involving cryptocurrency are expected to be key discussion points. German officials emphasized that crypto swapping, as facilitated by eXch, is a vital tool in the underground economy for obscuring illicit funds from hacking and stolen payment card data trade.