German Officials Seize $38 Million in Crypto Allegedly Tied to Bybit and Genesis Hack Proceeds

German authorities have shut down the crypto exchange eXch, which they allege was a hub for laundering criminal proceeds from major cryptocurrency hacks and online fraud schemes.

In a coordinated operation led by the Frankfurt Public Prosecutor’s Office and the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA), officials dismantled eXch’s server infrastructure on April 30, seizing €34 million (approximately $38 million) in digital assets and over 8 terabytes of data. The platform had reportedly planned to cease operations the following day.

Investigators believe that eXch processed more than $1.9 billion in crypto transactions since its inception in 2014, much of it tied to illicit activity. The platform is suspected of playing a central role in laundering funds from the $1.5 billion Bybit hack, the $243 million theft from Genesis creditors, and a string of phishing-related crypto thefts.

Authorities say the exchange was deliberately designed to evade compliance standards, operating without user identification, data retention, or anti-money laundering (AML) protocols. It allowed anonymous swaps between bitcoin (BTC), ether (ETH), litecoin (LTC), and dash (DASH), and was actively promoted on darknet forums as a privacy-focused mixing service.

“eXch offered an ideal environment for concealing financial flows,” officials said, citing its public marketing as an AML-free zone for fast crypto transactions.

The case marks one of Germany’s largest actions targeting crypto-related money laundering and reflects an expanding crackdown across Europe. Recent enforcement efforts have also taken down services like ChipMixer, Hydra, and Sinbad, as regulators intensify their focus on illicit crypto infrastructure.

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