ChipMixer
Summary
ChipMixer was a darknet Bitcoin mixing service that operated from August 2017 to March 2023, processing over $3 billion in illicit cryptocurrency on behalf of ransomware groups, North Korean state hackers, Russian military intelligence, and darknet drug markets. On March 15, 2023, U.S. and German authorities seized its infrastructure, domains, and approximately $46 million in cryptocurrency in a coordinated international takedown. Minh Quoc Nguyen, 49, a Vietnamese national residing in Hanoi, was charged in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania with money laundering, operating an unlicensed money transmitting business, and identity theft; he remains a fugitive.
Connected Entities
1 entitiesTimeline(9 events)
2017-08-01
ChipMixer launches as an unlicensed Bitcoin mixing service on the darknet and clearnet, with no FinCEN registration and no KYC procedures.
2020-06-01
North Korea's Lazarus Group conducts the Harmony Horizon Bridge theft; funds are later traced through ChipMixer according to DOJ court filings.
2020-08-01
FBI and NSA publish joint advisory disclosing Drovorub malware linked to Russian GRU unit 26165 (APT 28); DOJ later alleges infrastructure for Drovorub was purchased using Bitcoin laundered through ChipMixer.
2022-03-29
Lazarus Group executes the Axie Infinity Ronin Bridge hack, stealing approximately $625 million in cryptocurrency; on-chain research later identifies roughly 3,460 BTC of these funds routed through ChipMixer.
2022-04-05
OFAC sanctions Hydra Market, the Russia-based darknet market for which ChipMixer processed over $60 million in customer transactions.
2022-08-08
OFAC sanctions Tornado Cash, a competing mixer; ChipMixer remains active and continues to attract displaced users.
2023-03-14
Criminal complaint against Minh Quoc Nguyen filed in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania (Case 2:23-mj-00528); federal arrest warrant issued.
2023-03-15
DOJ, FBI, HSI, Europol, BKA, and authorities from Belgium, Poland, and Switzerland execute coordinated takedown: domains seized, GitHub account seized, backend servers in Germany seized, and approximately $46 million in cryptocurrency seized. Approximately 7 TB of data recovered.
2023-03-16
Vietnam's government confirms FBI is seeking Nguyen; Nguyen remains at large in Hanoi. Vietnam has no extradition treaty with the United States.
Decision Log
- hash: 8Vnm2xp4E78GpcQiYgd3asDaTV93pDXgecdiAh49zAHM
This investigation is cryptographically anchored to the Solana blockchain and source URLs are archived via the Internet Archive.
model: claude-sonnet-4-6
generated: 5/30/2026, 6:25:07 PM
last updated: 5/30/2026, 6:25:09 PM
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