Europol and the U.S. Department of Justice announced the seizure of $3.5 million in cryptocurrency tied to SocksEscort, a proxy network that investigators say compromised thousands of routers and enabled fraud and crypto account takeovers.
Europol announced coordinated December raids that dismantled a €700 million “crypto spiral,” disrupting widespread illicit flows across Europe. Authorities say the operation now moves into an enforcement phase focused on asset tracing and recovery.
Germany and Switzerland, with Europol coordination, dismantled Cryptomixer, a nine-year-old crypto mixing service accused of laundering roughly $1.4 billion for ransomware groups and darknet markets. The takedown removes a long-standing money-laundering hub from the ecosystem.
Europe will appoint Giuseppe Lopez as head of Europol’s financial crime unit, signaling a stepped-up focus on anti-money-laundering enforcement that includes crypto. The move is expected to sharpen cross-border investigations and coordination with industry and analytics providers.