Another Crypto App Goes Down in Regulatory ‘Mix’ Amid Collapse Row

The crypto market is fighting a never-ending war against regulatory authorities across the globe. Moreover, the recent crypto crash has raised several concerns and reduced investors’ trust in the sector. The Department of Justice (DOJ) recently released a statement saying they are taking down ChipMixer, a cryptocurrency mixing service.

ChipMixer Allegedly Laundered $3B Worth of Crypto

As per the DOJ’s announcement, the service allegedly laundered around $3 Billion worth of virtual currencies from 2017 to the present. According to the authorities, the company is involved in illicit acts, including crypto heists, the darknet market, ransomware, and more. An individual was charged on money laundering, identity theft, and more. The activities were tied to the ChipMixer.

US federal law enforcement and German Federal Criminal Police executed the operation collectively. While the former seized a couple of malicious domains associated with ChipMixer, the latter seized its back-end servers alongside $46 Million worth of digital assets.

Paul Abbate, Deputy Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), said that the operation highlights their enthusiasm to put a halt on any infrastructure giving a push to malicious acts associated with the crypto sector. He added that the agency would not let the bad actors hide or avoid the consequences.

The court document highlights that the application was among the most popular mixers preferred by cybercriminals. Additionally, ChipMixer enables enhanced anonymity to the users. The app was primarily used on the Tor network to hide operating locations. The company has served several entities in the US. However, it was not registered with the US Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), suggests the release.

ChipMixer was allegedly involved in one of the biggest cryptocurrency hacks involving Axie Infinity’s Ronin Bridge. Authorities have said the North Korean hacker group, Lazarus, was behind this attack. Furthermore, the application may have been used to execute illegal Bitcoin transactions.

Tornado Cash, another cryptocurrency mixer, was blacklisted in August 2022. The Treasury Department accused the app of laundering over $7 Billion worth of crypto assets. This led to multiple responses, including Circle, a peer-to-peer payments technology company, halted $75,000 in its native coin, USDC, from addresses linking to the application.

2022 was among the worst years the crypto sector has seen. The year saw the collapse of Terra USD and FTX, which triggered negative sentiments in the market. The cryptocurrency market has started to recover, with Bitcoin and Ethereum rising by 31% and 22%, respectively, in a week. The uptrend is eventually a positive sign for the entire market as both assets have a huge impact on the sector.

Disclaimer

The views and opinions stated by the author, or any people named in this article, are for informational purposes only and do not establish financial, investment, or other advice. Investing in or trading crypto assets comes with a risk of financial loss.

Anurag is working as a fundamental writer for The Coin Republic since 2021. He likes to exercise his curious muscles and research deep into a topic. Though he covers various aspects of the crypto industry, he is quite passionate about the Web3, NFTs, Gaming, and Metaverse, and envisions them as the future of the (digital) economy. A reader & writer at heart, he calls himself an “average guitar player” and a fun footballer.