Security News > 2023 > March > Authorities Shut Down ChipMixer Platform Tied to Crypto Laundering Scheme

"The ChipMixer software blocked the blockchain trail of the funds, making it attractive for cybercriminals looking to launder illegal proceeds from criminal activities such as drug trafficking, weapons trafficking, ransomware attacks, and payment card fraud," Europol said in a statement.

ChipMixer, the world's largest centralized crypto mixer service, is estimated to have laundered no less than $3.75 billion worth of digital assets to further a wide range of criminal schemes.

Blockchain analytics firm Elliptic said ChipMixer has been used to launder over $844 million in Bitcoin that can be linked directly to criminal activity.

ChipMixer is said to have attracted more than $200 million in Bitcoin linked to purchases originating from darknet markets, including $60 million from customers of the now-defunct Hydra.

"ChipMixer facilitated the laundering of cryptocurrency, specifically Bitcoin, on a vast international scale, abetting nefarious actors and criminals of all kinds in evading detection," U.S. Attorney Jacqueline C. Romero said.

ChipMixer is also the fourth mixer service to be outlawed over the past few years following the disruption of Bestmixer, Blender, and Tornado Cash, the latter two of which were sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Department last year for abetting Lazarus Group and other threat actors in laundering ill-gotten proceeds.

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