German Police Seize Crypto Tied to Major Hacks

German authorities, led by the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) and Frankfurt prosecutors, have seized €34 million ($38 million) in cryptocurrency and server infrastructure from eXch, a crypto exchange accused of laundering funds tied to North Korea's Lazarus Group, the $1.5 billion Bybit hack, Genesis creditor theft, and the FixedFloat exploit. eXch, which operated since 2014, facilitated an estimated $1.9 billion in transactions, often without KYC or AML measures, and advertised its services on darknet and clearnet forums. The exchange's voluntary shutdown was announced on May 1, but authorities moved quickly to secure evidence and assets. This represents the third-largest crypto seizure in German history and is part of a wider European crackdown on illicit crypto operations. Authorities highlighted increased international cooperation and the growing industrial scale of cybercrime. The seizure has contributed to heightened market volatility and underscored regulatory risks for privacy-focused and smaller exchanges.