German operation shuts down crypto mixer eXch, seizes millions in assets

German prosecutors and the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) shut down and seized the infrastructure of eXch, a privacy-focused cryptocurrency exchange, confiscating about $38.2M in crypto and more than 8 TB of data. Investigators say the platform was used to launder substantial portions of funds stolen in the February Bybit hack (linked to North Korea’s Lazarus Group); blockchain analysis estimates over $200M of the stolen assets flowed through eXch, which has processed an estimated $1.9B since 2014. Authorities expect the operation’s findings to aid investigations into other cybercrimes.