Crytomixer taken down in joint law enforcement action

A coordinated law enforcement action week in Europe has taken down the illegal cryptocurrency mixing service ‘Cryptomixer’, which is suspected of facilitating cybercrime and money laundering.

Europol supported the action, named Operation Olympia, which was conducted by law enforcement authorities from Switzerland and Germany in Zurich, Switzerland. 

The activities at the end of November culminated in three servers being seized in Switzerland, along with the cryptomixer.io domain. The operation resulted in the confiscation of over 12 terabytes of data and more than EUR 25 million worth of the cryptocurrency Bitcoin. 

“Cryptomixer was a hybrid mixing service accessible via both the clear web and the dark web,” Europol said on December 1. “It facilitated the obfuscation of criminal funds for ransomware groups, underground economy forums and dark web markets. Its software blocked the traceability of funds on the blockchain, making it the platform of choice for cybercriminals seeking to launder illegal proceeds from a variety of criminal activities, such as drug trafficking, weapons trafficking, ransomware attacks, and payment card fraud.”

According to Europol, since Cryptomixer’s creation in the year 2016, over EUR 1.3 billion in Bitcoin were mixed through the service. Deposited funds from various users were pooled for a long and randomised period before being redistributed to destination addresses, again at random times. 

“Mixing services such as Cryptomixer offer their clients anonymity and are often used before criminals redirect their laundered assets to cryptocurrency exchanges,” Europol explained. “This allows ‘cleaned’ cryptocurrency to be exchanged for other cryptocurrencies or for FIAT currency through cash machines or bank accounts.”