£ 160 Crore billions of clothes: Germany closes Darknet Crypto Exchange

Germany's Federal Criminal Police Bureau (Federal Criminal Police Office or BKA) confiscated the servers and the digital infrastructure of stock exchanges[.]CX, a cryptocurrency exchange that allegedly made a lot of money laundering and criminal transactions possible. The authorities confirmed that the operation took place on April 30, 2025, which was a confiscation of over 8 terabytes of data and cryptocurrency worth € 34 million (319.388 billion GBP) in Bitcoin, Ether, Litecoin and Dash.

Stock exchanges[.]CX, since 2014, was accessible in both clearnet and in the dark web and offered crypto exchange services with a minimal identity check and effectively made it a refuge for the laundry of punishment.

No KYC, no data: a platform developed for anonymity

After an official explanation of the BKA, stock exchange[.]CX expressly marketed itself in underground criminal networks as a platform that did not implement anti -money laundering (AML) protocols (AML). The service did not require that users disclose their identity or provide verifiable information. “The crypto exchange via stock exchanges was particularly suitable for hiding financial currents“Said the BKA and emphasized the role of the platform when shielding illegal transactions before regulatory supervision.

The authorities estimate that since it was founded, cryptocurrency transactions worth over 1.9 billion US dollars (approx. 160 billion GBP) have fled the platform. The illegal transactions included funds associated with North Korean threat actors, especially those who were connected to the Bitbit hack at the beginning of this year.

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End before the RAID: Announcement and Fora Cost

Interestingly, stock exchange[.]CX had announced plans to complete the company on April 17, just a few weeks before the confiscation. In an explanation of BitcoinTalk, the administrators claimed that they had received credible information about an upcoming “transatlantic operation” that aims to close the platform and to pursue them for money laundering and terrorist financing. “The goals that we had never thought were to enable illegal activities. This makes no sense for us.Post read, the refusal of all allegations and the indication that the closure was more of a precaution than a feelings of guilt.

Despite these claims, the law enforcement agencies regarded the shutdown as a deliberate attempt to escape justice and prompted an urgent step to confiscate servers and to regain digital evidence.

International cooperation and legal effects

The Dutch Fiscal Information and Investigation Service (Fiod), which also played a role in the investigation, has confirmed that he is now actively pursuing people who are connected to the platform. “This action is not an attack on privacy,“The Fiode was clarified in a public message.”However, if the services are abused to commit crime, we will act.“”

The authorities across Europe have emphasized that this step aims criminal abuse of digital instruments and not on the concept of financial privacy itself. The investigation has not yet been completed, the legal consequences that are bound to users and administrators with the laundry materials.

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A wake-up call for non-regulated crypto services

This top-class takedown underlines the growing determination of the European law enforcement authorities on crypto platforms that enable anonymous transactions without supervision. The fall of stock exchanges could serve as a warning for other platforms that work in legal gray areas or marketing for underground forums.

With increasing cryptocurrency, the supervisory authorities and enforcement authorities are increasingly focusing on stock exchanges and services that undermine the integrity of financial systems, even if they confirm the obligations to protect the rightful data protection rights.