The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced on March 15 that it has shut down the darknet cryptocurrency mixing service ChipMixer.
The agency said that the platform has been used to launder more than $3 billion of cryptocurrency between 2017 and 2023. It added that the platform has been used in ransomware, fraud, darknet activities, hacking, and crypto heists.
Law enforcement in the U.S. seized two web domains that directed visitors to ChipMixer as well as one GitHub account that hosted the project. Police in Germany additionally seized the project’s back-end servers and $46 million worth of cryptocurrency.
One individual — Vietnam resident Minh Quốc Nguyễn — has been charged with money laundering, identity theft, and the operation of an unlicensed money transmitting business in connection to the case. Those charges were made in Philadelphia.
More details to follow…
