Boom! Frankfurt Shuts Down eXch, Seizes $38.2M in Crypto - Alleged Laundromat for Major Hacks!

Hold onto your hats, folks! Frankfurt's authorities just dropped the hammer on eXch, snatching up a cool $38.2 million in crypto assets. These digital bandits are accused of laundering cash from monster hacks like Bybit and Multisig. Talk about a crypto crime spree!

In a bombshell statement from May 9, the Frankfurt Prosecutor's Office announced they've locked down the crypto exchange eXch tighter than Fort Knox. They've grabbed a whopping 34 million euros, that's $38.2 million in our money, in a rainbow mix of Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, and Dash. It's like a crypto candy store raid!

The prosecutors are calling this the "third-largest seizure of crypto assets in the history of the BKA." They're throwing the book at eXch, charging them with commercial money laundering and running a shady trading platform. It's like the Wild West out here!

The crypto detective ZachXBT is on the case, and he's saying eXch was laundering hundreds of millions from the biggest crypto heists you've ever seen. We're talking serious cash here!

Rumor has it eXch was the go-to spot for washing dirty money from the $1.5 billion Bybit hack, the $1.4 billion Multisig hack, the FixedFloat exploit, and the $243 million Genesis Creditor theft. Plus, they've been linked to all sorts of phishing scams over the years. These guys were busy!

ZachXBT's not holding back, claiming eXch flat-out refused to block hacker addresses or freeze orders. It's like they were asking to get caught!

Carsten Meywirth, the head honcho at the Federal Criminal Police Office and Cybercrime Division, is all over this. He's boasting about securing "a record-breaking sum of millions in incriminating cryptocurrencies" and shutting down eXch for good. They're not messing around!

"We're going to keep turning up the heat on the underground economy with everything we've got. We're out to nail those responsible," Meywirth declared. You can feel the intensity!

How did eXch allegedly launder hacking funds?

eXch was the slick crypto exchange that let you swap coins like it was nothing. It was all over the public web and the dark web, even marketing itself to the criminal underworld. These guys were playing dirty from the start!

It was a hit with dark web users because it didn't play by the rules. No anti-money laundering measures meant no ID checks or KYC verification. They claimed not to keep user info, making it a perfect spot to hide your dirty money. It's like a cloak of invisibility for your cash!

Since 2014, eXch has been churning through about $1.9 billion in crypto. Authorities are pretty sure it was dealing in Bitcoin from all sorts of illegal activities. It's like a digital laundromat for dirty money!

Frankfurt's finest found evidence that eXch was washing some of the $1.5 billion stolen from Bybit. That's a lot of cash to clean!

Remember that crazy day on Feb. 21 when Bybit got hit with one of the biggest hacks in web3 history? Hackers yanked $1.46 billion from Bybit's ETH cold wallet. CEO Ben Zhou says about 30% of that loot's vanished into thin air, and 84.5% got swapped to Bitcoin through THORchain. It's like a high-stakes game of hide and seek with billions on the line!