U.S. and European authorities have shut down cryptocurrency platform ChipMixer and charged its alleged operator, accusing it of laundering more than $3 billion of criminal proceeds, including $700 million allegedly stolen by North Korean hackers. They assert that ChipMixer was a sought-after platform for laundering illicit funds gained from ransomware attacks. crypto heists U.S. Justice Department charged Mixers such as ChipMixer enable users to commingle their funds to hide ownership.
U.S. prosecutors said ChipMixer processed stolen funds for cybercriminals behind the $540 Million hack of the online game Axie Infinity and $100 million hack of the Horizon bridge by technology company Harmony allowing users to send crypto between different blockchains.
The platform also was allegedly used to launder about $46 million of the more than $370 million in crypto funds estimated to have been stolen from FTX exchange shortly after it filed for bankruptcy in November, according to crypto analytics firm Elliptic Enterprises Ltd
Jeffrey Newman is a whistleblower lawyer handling cases in the Securities and Exchange whistleblower program and False Claims Act cases. He can be reached at 617-823-3217 or at Jeff@JeffNewmanLaw.com
