Major European operation targets bitcoin mixer: €25 million in BTC seized and servers shut down.
Europol, in collaboration with law enforcement authorities in Germany and Switzerland, has put an end to the activities of one of Europe’s most well-known custodial bitcoin mixers. The operation resulted in the seizure of €25 million (approximately $27 million) in bitcoin and over 12 terabytes of user data. According to authorities, the service facilitated money laundering of proceeds from various criminal activities.
The operation took place between November 24 and 28 in Zurich, with continuous support from Europol throughout the week-long action. Investigators seized three servers, took control of the cryptomixer[.]io domain, and replaced the site with an official law enforcement seizure banner.
According to Europol, the platform, known as Cryptomixer, operated as a hybrid mixing service on both the traditional web and the dark web. Since its launch in 2016, the service processed over €1.3 billion in bitcoin.
Authorities stated that the platform had become an infrastructure for digital criminals, laundering approximately $1.4 billion in illicit funds linked to ransomware groups, dark web markets, and fraud organizations.
Law enforcement reported that the mixer was heavily used by ransomware groups, underground cybercrime forums, and operators active on dark web marketplaces. The platform’s software aggregated deposits over extended and randomized periods before redistributing the funds to new addresses designed to break the traceability of transactions.
According to authorities, this method allowed the concealment of proceeds from drug trafficking, arms trafficking, payment card fraud, and cyberattacks.
Europol coordinated intelligence sharing through its Joint Cybercrime Action Taskforce and provided forensic specialists during the operations. The agency has been involved in several anti-mixing operations in recent years, including the dismantling of ChipMixer in March 2023, which at the time was the largest service of its kind.
