Crypto exchange eXch accused of secretly operating after claiming to shut down

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Blockchain forensics firm TRM Labs has claimed that crypto exchange eXch is still operating despite announcing its shutdown. Analysts at the firm disclosed this in a new report, pointing to on-chain activity. eXch announced it would shut down on May 1 due to allegations that it helped hackers in laundering part of $1.4 billion stolen from Bybit in February. Although the exchange denied the allegations, it still said it would shut down in an April 17 statement. In line with the planned shutdown, eXch has been closing some of its infrastructure throughout April. This included removing four dark web and clearnet domains on April 30 and ending support for its browser interface on April 27. Despite all these changes, TRM Labs analysts reported on-chain activity that suggests that some of eXch’s infrastructure is still interacting with funds linked to child sexual abuse material (CSAM) threat actors. CSAM deposits on eXch (Source: TRM Labs) It said: “TRM observed on-chain activity on April 30, 2025 similar to what we previously identified as eXch mixed-pool operations that are exposed to CSAM. This infrastructure remained active and interacted with newly withdrawn funds linked to CSAM over several days.” The firm noted that this on-chain activity suggests that the platform might still be active even if it is now operating in secrecy. It added that eXch itself had said it would still offer an application programming interface (API) to partners, and bad actors might still be using this infrastructure. Mixed pools are central to eXch’s functionality Meanwhile, TRM Labs attributed eXch’s performance to its mixed-pool structure. This allows the exchange to hide the source and destination of assets, making it more difficult to trace funds moved through the exchange. Mixed pools are like swap services where users can deposit one coin and swap for another.…