Law enforcement agencies in Europe and the U.S. have taken down ChipMixer, an unlicensed cryptocurrency mixer. ChipMixer software blocked the blockchain trail of funds, making it attractive for cybercriminals involved in illegal activities such as drug trafficking, ransomware attacks, and payment card fraud.
- The operation resulted in the seizure of $47.5 million in Bitcoin and 7 TB of data.
- ChipMixer is estimated to have laundered at least $3.75 billion worth of digital assets, including 152,000 BTC.
- Blockchain analytics firm Elliptic identified over $844 million in Bitcoin laundered through ChipMixer connected to criminal activity.
- ChipMixer was used by various criminal groups, including Lazarus Group, LockBit, Sodinokibi, Zeppelin, Mamba, Dharma, and SunCrypt.
- The platform processed over $200 million in Bitcoin from darknet market purchases and was used by APT28 (Fancy Bear) and the Russia-linked hacking group.
