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According to a press release from the BKA, the operation was spearheaded by the Federal Criminal Police Office in Germany and the Central Office for Combating Internet Crime. The target of the operation was platforms that enable users to exchange conventional currencies and cryptocurrencies without verifying their names. These exchanges permitted transactions that did not adhere to the "know-your-customer" protocols, which necessitated users to verify their identity prior to conducting financial transactions.
The exchanges enabled users to trade cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) swiftly and anonymously by circumventing this verification process. Criminals frequently employ these platforms to conceal the source of funds obtained through illicit activities, including drug sales on the dark net or ransomware attacks, according to the BKA. Thirteen sites throughout Germany were raided by German officials on August 20th in an extensive anti-money laundering operation, seizing thirteen cryptocurrency ATMs and about twenty-eight million euros in cash. Financial watchdog BaFin spearheaded the searches, which threatened serious money-laundering concerns due to their targeting of machines that did not possess the required permits.
These services were shut down as part of a larger effort to damage the systems that cybercriminals use. The swaps gave the authorities information on users and transactions that could be useful for future probes. Criminals who use these services to wash their money might be able to be caught with this information. The crackdown comes after other steps taken by German police, like seizing the ChipMixer platform in 2023, which was used to launder €90 million worth of coins. In the past few years, authorities have also gone after other criminal networks, such as those that run viruses.
As the BKA began transferring about 50,000 BTC confiscated from the owners of the notorious movie pirate website Movie2k.to in 2013, the summer of 2013 was a busy one for Germany and the cryptocurrency market. Germany sold and moved all of this Bitcoin for around a month in June and July, bringing the asset price down.
editor
A web 3 girl living in a web 2 world.