Germany Shuts Down 47 Crypto Exchanges

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The German government has closed down 47 cryptocurrency exchanges, accusing them of facilitating an illicit economy for cybercriminals to thrive in.

Now, they are focusing on the potentially criminal users of these exchanges.

The federal criminal police office, Frankfurt’s main prosecutor’s office, and the country’s office for combatting cybercrime released a statement on September 19, stating that these users have been purposely hiding the origins of illegally obtained funds by not complying with anti-money laundering laws.

According to the authorities, the users of these exchanges include individuals involved in ransomware, botnets, and the black market.

They use the services to convert their illegally obtained funds into regular currency. The websites of the seized exchanges now feature a warning from the German government, stating that their servers have been found and seized, including development, production, and backup servers.