Europol Seizes $29M in Bitcoin, Shuts Down Crypto Mixer

Europol, in collaboration with Swiss and German authorities, zeroed in on three servers tied to cryptomixer.io. The haul included 12 terabytes of data, offering a treasure trove of information for investigators hoping to trace illicit funds and unmask the individuals behind them. The agency estimates that cryptomixer.io laundered a staggering $1.5 billion since 2016.

Crypto mixers, at their core, are designed to obfuscate the origin of cryptocurrency transactions. They pool funds from various sources, mix them up, and then redistribute them, making it difficult to trace the original source of the funds. While proponents argue this is about privacy, the reality is that mixers are a haven for illicit activity.

Think of it as a digital laundromat for dirty money. As Europol explained, cryptomixer.io operated on both the clear web and the dark web, providing “the obfuscation of criminal funds for ransomware groups, underground economy forums and dark web markets.”

While mixers make tracing funds more challenging, they aren’t foolproof. The seized data from Operation Olympia is expected to provide crucial leads for identifying the sources of the laundered funds and the identities of the criminals involved. The German federal investigative agency Bundeskriminalamt (BKA) stated that “the findings will also contribute to the investigation of further cybercrimes.”

This takedown is just the latest in a series of operations targeting cybercrime infrastructure. Europol’s relentless pursuit of digital criminals is sending a clear message: the anonymity offered by crypto mixers is an illusion, and the long arm of the law is getting longer.

Operation Olympia is not an isolated incident. Law enforcement agencies have been actively targeting crypto mixers for years.

• In November 2025, Operation ENDGAME 3.0 dismantled malware networks like Elysium, Rhadamanthys, and VenomRAT, responsible for stealing millions of credentials and crypto wallets.
• Operations Magnus and Endgame in 2024-2025 took down the RedLine and Lumma infostealer infrastructure.
• In March 2023, ChipMixer, another major crypto mixer, was shuttered, with authorities seizing over 1900 Bitcoin and 7 TB of data. North Korean hackers were reportedly among its top users.
• Sinbad[.]io, used to launder funds from the Horizon Bridge and Axie Infinity hacks, met a similar fate.
• Back in 2019, Bestmixer[.]io, which had processed over $200 million in transactions, was also dismantled.

The crackdown extends beyond shutting down websites. In November 2025, the founders of Samourai Wallet, Keonne Rodriguez and William Lonergan Hill, were sentenced to prison for transmitting proceeds of crime.

As cryptocurrency adoption continues to grow, so too will the efforts of criminals to exploit its anonymity. However, law enforcement agencies are adapting, developing sophisticated techniques to trace and seize illicit funds. Operation Olympia is a testament to their increasing effectiveness.

The takedown of cryptomixer.io serves as a warning to those who believe they can hide behind the veil of cryptocurrency. The digital breadcrumbs left behind are often enough to lead investigators to their door, and the consequences can be severe.