# eXch instant exchanger seizure (April-May 2025)

> Source: https://fuckyc.org/explainers/exch-seizure-2025/
> Date: 2025-04-30 · Last verified: 2026-05-12

eXch, one of the most-cited strictly-no-KYC instant exchangers from 2022 to early 2025, was seized by German Federal Criminal Police (BKA) in coordination with U.S. authorities on money-laundering allegations in late April–May 2025.

## What happened

- Late April 2025: BKA executes seizure of eXch infrastructure in Germany; the operator's domain begins resolving to a seizure notice.
- Public statements connect the seizure to allegations that eXch laundered proceeds from major crypto thefts, including the February 2025 Bybit hot-wallet exploit (~$1.4B).
- eXch had operated since 2022 as one of the most-explicitly-no-KYC instant exchangers, with Tor mirror and aggressive no-screening positioning.
- Seizure removed the platform from the durable no-KYC swap list and forced re-routing through other backends in aggregator stacks.

## Why it matters

eXch was singularly positioned in the no-KYC swap ecosystem as the operator most-explicitly-refusing AML screening. Its seizure narrows the no-KYC instant-swap category and signals that strict no-screening operator stance is itself a regulatory-attention magnet. Subsequent operators have tightened their public positioning accordingly.

## Status in 2026

eXch is defunct. The seizure proceedings continue. The functional no-KYC instant-swap options in 2026 are Trocador-routed backends (FixedFloat, Exolix, SideShift, ChangeNOW, SimpleSwap, Majestic Bank) with varying screening postures.

## Related directory entries

- https://fuckyc.org/services/exch/
- https://fuckyc.org/services/trocador/
- https://fuckyc.org/services/fixedfloat/
- https://fuckyc.org/services/exolix/

## Sources

- [BKA (German Federal Criminal Police)](https://www.bka.de/)
- [Wikipedia — Cryptocurrency and crime](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cryptocurrency_and_crime)