- Dutch authorities shut down Bestmixer.io, the website.
- The service is suspected of money laundering activities.
The Dutch Financial Intelligence and Investigation Service (FIOD) shut down Bestmixer.io, the website that provided crypto mixing services.
The agency joined forces with police agencies from other European nations, including France, Latvia and Luxembourg, the local media outlet reports.
FIOD accuses the service of being a vehicle for money laundering activities, though no arrests were made at this stage as the officials are still investigating the case.
“Today’s Bestmixer seizure shows an increase in law enforcement activities on pure crypto-to-crypto services. This follows on the heels of European AMLD5 regulations and the views expressed by US FinCEN that crypto-to-crypto services are considered to be money services businesses and must comply with those regulations. This is the first public seizure of a bitcoin mixing service and shows that not only are dark marketplaces subject to criminal enforcement, but other services are as well, “Dave Jevans, CipherTrace CEO, commented on Bestmixer shut down.
The expert emphasized that the company operated in Europe and serviced customers from all over the world. It allowed users to send a small amount of Bitcoins to numerous addresses to escape cryptocurrency anti-money laundering tools. This practice is known as crypto dusting.
McAfee also published a report on Bestmixer shut down, pointing out to the service connections to cybersecurity threats.
The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) has recently released the guidelines where it classified such mixers as money transmitters, that can operate legally only if they perform know-your-customer (KYC) procedures.
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