Law enforcement agencies in Switzerland and Germany have reported the dismantling of Cryptomixer , a major mixing service operating since 2016 that helped criminals launder illicitly obtained funds. According to Europol, the service has processed over €1.3 billion in Bitcoin (about $1.5 billion) in recent years.
Operation Olympia took place in Zurich in late November. During the raids, which lasted from November 24 to 28, law enforcement agencies, with the support of Europol and Eurojust, seized three servers containing over 12 terabytes of data , blocked domains on the traditional internet and the Tor network, and confiscated €24 million (approximately $29 million) worth of Bitcoin. No arrests were reported in official press releases.
“Cryptomixer was a hybrid mixing service that operated simultaneously on the internet and the darknet. It facilitated the concealment of illicit proceeds for extortion groups, shadow forums, and darknet markets. Its software blocked the tracking of funds on the blockchain, making the platform a favorite of cybercriminals seeking to launder illicit proceeds from various criminal activities (including drug trafficking, arms trafficking, ransomware attacks, and payment card fraud),” Europol officials reported.
Authorities emphasize that these services guarantee criminals anonymity at a critical stage: when they need to convert stolen assets into fiat money or other cryptocurrencies. While these platforms may theoretically have legal applications, in practice their primary users remain criminal groups seeking to evade identification and arrest.
It’s worth noting that this isn’t the first major law enforcement operation against cryptocurrency mixers.
For example, in March 2023, Europol coordinated a similar operation against ChipMixer , one of the largest cryptocurrency mixing services on the darknet. German police and the FBI seized four servers, 7 TB of data, and $46.5 million in Bitcoin.
We also recall that at the end of November, the founders of the cryptocurrency mixer Samourai were sentenced to prison in the United States, guilty of laundering over $237 million.
The closure of Cryptomixer represents another blow to the cryptocurrency criminal ecosystem and demonstrates that the international law enforcement community is increasingly fighting against the tools that allow criminals to hide their illegal activities in the digital space.
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