According to ChainCatcher and Cointelegraph, the cryptocurrency exchange XCH announced that it will cease operations on May 1. Prior reports suggested that the exchange was used for money laundering, involving some of the stolen funds from the Bybit $1.4 billion hacker incident.
In an announcement on April 17, XCH stated that most management team members voted to adopt a "stop and retreat" strategy in response to allegations that the North Korean hacker group Lazarus Group laundered approximately $35 million through the platform—funds originating from the $1.4 billion Bybit hack.
The exchange claimed it has become a target of a "transatlantic joint law enforcement action" aimed at shutting down its business and potentially bringing criminal charges. XCH stated: "Although we have withstood multiple attempts to close our infrastructure and maintained operations, we believe continuing to operate in a hostile environment where we have become a signal intelligence surveillance target and are misinterpreted by certain individuals is meaningless." The exchange initially denied blockchain detective claims about helping Lazarus Group launder money but acknowledged processing "an extremely small portion of funds" from the February hacker event.
