• International Operation Takes Down Crypto Mixer Chipmixer — Creator Could Face 40 Years in Prison
• Operation involved authorities in the U.S., Germany, Belgium, Poland, and Switzerland
• Chipmixer laundered more than $3 billion worth of cryptocurrency

International Operation Takes Down Crypto Mixer Chipmixer

An international operation has taken down Chipmixer, a cryptocurrency mixing service that allegedly laundered more than $3 billion worth of cryptocurrency. The operation involved national authorities in the U.S., Germany, Belgium, Poland, and Switzerland — with Europol’s support.

Chipmixer Laundered More Than $3 Billion Worth of Cryptocurrency

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) detailed that Chipmixer allowed its users to make bitcoin (BTC) deposits which it „then mixed with other Chipmixer users‘ bitcoin, commingling the funds in a way that made it difficult for law enforcement or regulators to trace the transactions.“ It primarily operated as a Tor hidden service which concealed its location from law enforcement and did not register with the U.S. Department of Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN).

Takedown Involved Multiple National Authorities

Europol provided support for the operation to take down the mixing service while national authorities took down the platform’s infrastructure for its alleged involvement in money laundering activities and seized four servers with about 1909.4 bitcoins and 7 TB of data. The German Federal Criminal Police (the Bundeskriminalamt) also seized over $46 million in cryptocurrency from Chipmizer while U.S federal law enforcement seized two domains that directed users to the site as well as one Github account .

Chipmixer Creator Could Face 40 Years In Prison

Beginning in August 2017, Minh Quốc Nguyễn — 49-year-old Vietnamese man — created and operated the online infrastructure used by Chipmixer and promoted its services online. He is charged with operating an unlicensed money transmitting business, money laundering and identity theft; if convicted he faces a maximum penalty of 40 years in prison.

Conclusion

This article discussed international efforts to take down crypto mixer ChipsMixers as part of an investigation into its alleged involvement in money laundering activity involving more than $3 billion dollars worth of cryptocurrency. Several national authorities were involved including those from US, Germany, Belgium Poland and Switzerland; Europol also provided support for this operation which resulted in four servers being seized along with 1909 bitcoins and 7TBs of data along with two domains directing towards ChipsMixers being seized by US federal law enforcement teams while German Federal Criminal Police seized over 46 million dollars worth of crypto currency from ChipsMixers site creator Minh Quoc Nguyen who could face maximum penalty upto 40 years imprisonment if convicted on charges related to operating an unlicensed money transmitting business ,money laundering & identity theft .