Frankfurt authorities seize $38.2m from eXch due to money laundering allegations

By: bitcoin ethereum news|2025/05/09 21:00:12

Frankfurt authorities have suspended operations for eXch and seized its crypto assets valued $38.2 million. The platform allegedly facilitated money laundering for major crypto heists including the Bybit and Multisig hacks. According to an official statement issued on May 9, the Frankfurt Prosecutor’s Office announced it had shut down the crypto exchange platform, seizing an array of crypto assets worth 34 million euros or equal to $38.2 million. These assets consisted of a mix of Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Litecoin (LTC), and Dash (DASH). The prosecutor’s office dubbed it the “third-largest seizure of crypto assets in the history of the BKA.” Authorities accused the team behind the platform of commercial money laundering and operating a criminal trading platform. According to renowned crypto investigator ZachXBT, the platform was used to launder hundreds of millions of funds from some of the largest crypto hacks in history. It was allegedly used to launder funds from the $1.5 billion Bybit hack, the $1.4 billion Multisig hack, the FixedFloat exploit, and the theft of around $243 million from Genesis Creditor, as well as various phishing scams over the past few years. The internet sleuth claimed the platform had repeatedly refused to block addresses and freeze orders related to these hacks. Director of the Federal Criminal Police Office and Head of the Cybercrime Division, Carsten Meywirth has confirmed that the bureau has secured “a record-breaking sum of millions in incriminating cryptocurrencies” as well as effectively shut down the platform. “We will continue to increase the risk of loss for the underground economy with all the means at our disposal. Our goal remains to hold those responsible accountable,” said Meywirth. How did eXch allegedly launder hacking funds? eXch is known as a crypto exchange service that allowed customers to swap between crypto assets easily. It was made accessible on both the public web as well as the dark web. In fact, it has been specifically marketing itself on sites linked to the criminal underground. It appealed to dark web operators because unlike most crypto exchange platforms, it did not abide to anti-money laundering measures. This meant that users did not have to identify themselves or submit Know-Your-Customer verification. The platform also claimed it does not store user information. Therefore, the platform made it particularly increasingly easy for users to cover their financial tracks. Since it was established in 2014, the platform has facilitated around $1.9 billion worth of crypto transactions. Authorities suspect the platform has been accepting Bitcoin originating from illegal activity. Not only that, the Frankfurt law enforcement have found evidence that the platform may have been used to launder a portion of the $1.5 billion of stolen funds from the Bybit hack. On Feb. 21, crypto exchange Bybit suffered one of the largest exploits in the web3 space. The hackers were able to extract around $1.46 billion from Bybit’s ETH cold wallet. According to Bybit CEO Ben Zhou, nearly 30% of the funds stolen from Bybit can no longer be tracked. Meanwhile, he believes as much as 84.5% have been converted to Bitcoin via cross-chain liquidity protocol THORchain. Source: https://crypto.news/frankfurt-authorities-seize-38-2m-from-exch-due-to-money-laundering-allegations/

The privacy-focused crypto wallet Mixin announced today the launch of its U-based perpetual contract (a derivative priced in USDT). Unlike traditional exchanges, Mixin has taken a new approach by "liberating" derivative trading from isolated matching engines and embedding it into the instant messaging environment.

Users can directly open positions within the app with leverage of up to 200x, while sharing positions, discussing strategies, and copy trading within private communities. Trading, social interaction, and asset management are integrated into the same interface.

Simplified Trading Experience: No KYC Required, Opening a Position in Five Steps

Based on its non-custodial architecture, Mixin has eliminated friction from the traditional onboarding process, allowing users to participate in perpetual contract trading without identity verification.

The trading process has been streamlined into five steps:

· Choose the trading asset

· Select long or short

· Input position size and leverage

· Confirm order details

· Confirm and open the position

The interface provides real-time visualization of price, position, and profit and loss (PnL), allowing users to complete trades without switching between multiple modules.

Social-Native Trading: Strategy and Execution Completed in the Same Context

Mixin has directly integrated social features into the derivative trading environment. Users can create private trading communities and interact around real-time positions:

· End-to-end encrypted private groups supporting up to 1024 members

· End-to-end encrypted voice communication

· One-click position sharing

· One-click trade copying

On the execution side, Mixin aggregates liquidity from multiple sources and accesses decentralized protocol and external market liquidity through a unified trading interface.

By combining social interaction with trade execution, Mixin enables users to collaborate, share, and execute trading strategies instantly within the same environment.

Referral Mechanism: Non-institutional users can receive up to 60% fee split

Mixin has also introduced a referral incentive system based on trading behavior:

· Users can join with an invite code

· Up to 60% of trading fees as referral rewards

· Incentive mechanism designed for long-term, sustainable earnings

This model aims to drive user-driven network expansion and organic growth.

Self-Custody Architecture and Built-in Privacy Mechanism

Mixin's derivative transactions are built on top of its existing self-custody wallet infrastructure, with core features including:

· Separation of transaction account and asset storage

· User full control over assets

· Platform does not custody user funds

· Built-in privacy mechanisms to reduce data exposure

The system aims to strike a balance between transaction efficiency, asset security, and privacy protection.

A New Path for On-Chain Derivatives

Against the background of perpetual contracts becoming a mainstream trading tool, Mixin is exploring a different development direction by lowering barriers, enhancing social and privacy attributes.

The platform does not only view transactions as execution actions but positions them as a networked activity: transactions have social attributes, strategies can be shared, and relationships between individuals also become part of the financial system.

Regulatory Background

Mixin's design is based on a user-initiated, user-controlled model. The platform neither custodies assets nor executes transactions on behalf of users.

This model aligns with a statement issued by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on April 13, 2026, titled "Staff Statement on Whether Partial User Interface Used in Preparing Cryptocurrency Securities Transactions May Require Broker-Dealer Registration."

The statement indicates that, under the premise where transactions are entirely initiated and controlled by users, non-custodial service providers that offer neutral interfaces may not need to register as broker-dealers or exchanges.

About Mixin

Mixin is a decentralized, self-custodial privacy wallet designed to provide secure and efficient digital asset management services.

Its core capabilities include:

· Aggregation: integrating multi-chain assets and routing between different transaction paths to simplify user operations

· High liquidity access: connecting to various liquidity sources, including decentralized protocols and external markets

· Decentralization: achieving full user control over assets without relying on custodial intermediaries

· Privacy protection: safeguarding assets and data through MPC, CryptoNote, and end-to-end encrypted communication

Mixin has been in operation for over 8 years, supporting over 40 blockchains and more than 10,000 assets, with a global user base exceeding 10 million and an on-chain self-custodied asset scale of over $1 billion.

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Mixin has launched USTD-margined perpetual contracts, bringing derivative trading into the chat scene.