Germany shuts down 47 crypto exchanges for hiding origin of funds

German cybersecurity and crime investigators have shut down 47 cryptocurrency exchanges for hiding the origin of their funds.

The operator of the now-shuttered exchange service was accused of concealing the origin of criminally obtained funds on a large scale by failing to implement legal requirements to combat money laundering.

The Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA), the Central Office for Combating Internet Crime (ZIT) and the Frankfurt public prosecutor’s office said in a statement.

Investigators said the service allowed exchange transactions to be made without going through a registration process and without checking proof of identity.

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They do this to exchange cryptocurrencies for other currencies quickly and anonymously by hiding the origin of the transaction.

Investigators added that all of the exchange services were operated in Germany.

“Exchange services that enable anonymous financial transactions and thus money laundering are one of the most important components of cybercrime,” they added.

Darknet dealers and botnet operators have reportedly been found among the platform’s users.

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