An international law enforcement operation has resulted in the takedown of the ChipMixer cryptocurrency mixing service. Authorities seized approximately $29.2 million worth of Bitcoin in the action, which dismantled a platform allegedly used for laundering the proceeds of criminal activities.

The joint operation, announced on March 15, involved German and U.S. authorities with coordination from Europol. In total, 1,909.4 bitcoins, valued at €27.3 million, were confiscated along with seven servers and four bank accounts. The service’s backend infrastructure was seized, and the ChipMixer.com domain now displays a seizure notice.

Coordinated International Takedown

The investigation was conducted by Germany’s Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA), the Public Prosecutor’s Office in Frankfurt am Main, and U.S. law enforcement agencies, including Homeland Security Investigations and the FBI. As part of the action, the U.S. Department of Justice unsealed an indictment against Minh Quốc Nguyễn, a 49-year-old resident of Hanoi, Vietnam.

Nguyễn is accused of operating the ChipMixer platform and faces charges of money laundering, operating an unlicensed money transmitting business, and identity theft. The platform had been operational since 2017.

ChipMixer’s Role in Cybercrime

ChipMixer was a crypto tumbler service designed to obscure the transaction trail of digital currencies. It is alleged to have laundered 152,000 bitcoins, equivalent to roughly $3 billion. The service functioned by allowing users to deposit bitcoin and receive ‘chips’ of varying amounts, which could then be mixed and withdrawn to break the on-chain link to the original funds.

According to law enforcement, the service was utilized by a wide range of threat actors. Users included ransomware groups such as Sodinokibi and Mamba, operators of the dark web markets Hydra and Garantex, and state-sponsored hacking organizations like the Lazarus Group. Funds stolen from cryptocurrency exchanges, including Binance and Bithumb, were also reportedly laundered through ChipMixer.

Source: https://www.securityweek.com/29-million-worth-of-bitcoin-seized-in-cryptomixer-takedown/