German authorities have closed 47 crypto exchanges for their involvement in assisting criminal acts, as stated in a joint announcement from the Central Office for Combating Internet Crime (ZIT) and the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA).
The exchanges were suspended following authorities’ determination of their involvement in money laundering activities. The authorities assert that the platforms facilitated anonymous crypto and other digital asset exchanges, obscuring the origins of criminal cash.
This failure to comply with legal obligations constitutes a blatant infringement of anti-money laundering legislation. The exchanges facilitated transactions without requiring user registration or identity verification, contravening the know-your-customer (KYC) requirement.
Criminals, such as ransomware collectives, darknet merchants, and botnet administrators, allegedly utilized these platforms to launder illicit funds into legitimate currency. German law enforcement has obtained comprehensive user and transaction data to deconstruct the infrastructure facilitating criminality.
The enforcement action occurs alongside a heightened initiative by German authorities to address illicit cryptocurrency operations. The BKA partnered with US authorities to confiscate the domain of Cryptonator, a platform identified as lacking adequate anti-money laundering protocols.
