German Authorities Shut Down 47 Illicit Exchanges
Two German governmental agencies, the Frankfurt am Main Public Prosecutor’s Office, crack down on 47 illicit exchanges, including some using cryptocurrency.
The Central Office for Combating Internet Crime (ZIT) and the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) executed the takedown of these platforms operating within Germany. They assert that these exchanges allegedly engaged in money laundering activities by acquiring and concealing the origins of illicit funds, as stated in a Thursday release.
Additionally, these exchanges bypassed know-your-customer (KYC) protocols, failing to verify user identities before permitting digital asset transactions. The anonymous nature of these funds contributed to moving illegally obtained assets, according to the release.
As part of their investigation, ZIT and BKA retrieved both user and transaction data from these exchanges, which they will utilize to further combat cybercrime.
Earlier this year, the German government confiscated 50,000 BTC, valued at approximately $2 billion at the time, from the illegal streaming service Movie2K, as previously reported by The Block.
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