The privacy-focused exchange eXch announced it will cease operations on May 1 following increasing allegations of laundering funds stolen in the Bybit hack.
Closure of eXch and Its Reasons
eXch, based in the Czech Republic, issued a notice on April 17 about its impending shutdown. The exchange's team stated that the project had become the target of a 'transatlantic operation' aimed at shutting it down and potentially prosecuting key figures for money laundering.
Money Laundering Allegations
eXch has faced allegations of laundering funds from the Bybit hack. Investigations by analytics firms such as Elliptic and TRM Labs identified the exchange as a crucial hub in the laundering process after approximately 401,000 Ethereum were stolen in the exploit on February 21.
Statements from eXch Team
The eXch team emphasized that their project had no financial goals and was conceived as a privacy experiment. They criticized centralized exchanges for 'nonsensical policies' that fail to effectively combat money laundering and announced a 50 Bitcoin fund to support open-source projects in the Bitcoin and Ethereum ecosystems.
The closure of eXch raises questions about privacy in the cryptocurrency space and how platforms can be exploited in illegal activities despite their stated intentions.
