Germany seizes 47 cryptocurrency exchanges tied to ‘underground economy’

German officials issued a clear message to illegal exchange users: we identified their servers and have your data; meet you soon. The German government recently closed 47 cryptocurrency exchanges, accusing them of intentionally permitting a “underground economy” for cybercriminals to thrive, and is now focussing on their possibly illegal customers.

“[They have been] deliberately concealing the origin of criminally obtained funds on a large scale through inadequate implementation of legal requirements for combating money laundering,” Germany’s federal criminal police office, Frankfurt’s main prosecutor’s office, and the country’s office for combating cybercrime alleged in a statement on September 19.

The police claim that their users include ransomware, botnet operators, and black market dealers who utilize the services to shift money earned through illegal means into the “regular currency cycle.”

The German authorities has confiscated the servers of bitcoin exchanges, including development, production, and backup servers, as stated on their websites. We have their data, and hence we have yours. “Transactions, registration data, and IP addresses,” the officials stated. However, German authorities said that extensive prosecution was unlikely because many of the criminals live in foreign nations. “Since cybercriminals often reside abroad and are tolerated or even protected by some countries, they often remain inaccessible to German law enforcement,” according to the article.

It is claimed that one of the confiscated cryptocurrency exchanges, X change. cash, has been operational since 2012, processing approximately 1.3 million transactions for 410,000 members. 60cek.org, Baksman.com, and Prostocash.com were among the other seized trading platforms with large user and transaction volumes. In June and July, the German government sold approximately 50,000 Bitcoin (BTC) worth $3.15 billion at current prices, despite being one of the world’s top holdings.

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