So, the German police squad decided to go crypto-hunting today. They didn’t just knock down a few doors; they stormed 47 crypto exchanges. Yeah, you read that right — forty-seven. But it’s not just about closing shop. They’ve got all the servers, man. Development servers, production servers, even backup servers. Guess what that means? They’ve got your data too.
The official announcement hit hard on Sept 19. Germany’s federal criminal police, together with Frankfurt’s top prosecutor’s office and the cybercrime guys, dropped the hammer. They said these exchanges were totally cool with their users doing shady stuff like laundering dirty money. Apparently, the platforms didn’t care about anti-money laundering rules. So the exchanges? Outta here.
Crypto Meets the Underground – Not So Private Anymore
What kinda users are we talking about? Ransomware crews, botnet runners, and your good old black market hustlers. They thought they were smart, moving dirty money into the “legit currency cycle.” Well, Germany just burst their bubble.
If you were using one of those exchanges, it’s like: “Hey, we’ve got your transaction history, your registration info, and your IP addresses too. So, y’know, we’ll be in touch real soon.” That’s basically what the authorities plastered across the sites of the seized platforms. It’s clear and kinda chilling. The hunt is on.
But here’s the twist — most of these guys don’t even live in Germany. They’re sitting somewhere cozy in countries where cybercrime isn’t exactly a big deal. So yeah, maybe those ones will get away… for now. But you? If you’re in Germany or anywhere close, they might be knocking.
Old-Timers in the Game and Big Names Caught
Let’s talk about Xchange.cash, one of the big boys that got nailed. It’s been around since 2012. You know, that’s like ancient history in crypto terms. With nearly 1.3 million transactions from 410,000 users — that’s a whole lotta shady moves in broad daylight.
Also, if you’ve heard of 60cek.org, Baksman.com, or Prostocash.com — yup, those got iced too. High transaction numbers, lots of users, same story.
Germany used to be a massive whale in the Bitcoin scene. They offloaded almost 50,000 BTC this summer. So yeah, they’re no strangers to this game.