Canada Seizes $56M in Bitcoin, XRP and Other Crypto as It Shutters Exchange TradeOgre

In brief

Crypto exchange TradeOgre stopped working months ago.
Canadian police said they shut down the exchange and seized $56 million CAD ($40.5 million USD) in crypto from the platform.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police said it was the country’s biggest crypto seizure.

Canadian police have confiscated $56 million CAD ($40.5 million USD) in digital assets after shuttering an exchange in the country’s largest crypto seizure yet, according to a statement by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) on Thursday.

The RCMP said that they took down the crypto exchange TradeOgre after a tip from European authorities, and that the platform failed to comply with money laundering regulations.

TradeOgre’s website no longer works, instead showing a message that it has been seized by Canadian police. RCMP told Decrypt that it had seized Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP, Litecoin, Tron, and Qubic so far in the operation.

“Investigators have reason to believe that the majority of funds transacted on TradeOgre came from criminal sources,” the RCMP statement said.

“The main attraction of this type of platform, which doesn’t require users to identify themselves to make an account, is that it hides the source of funds. This is a common tactic used by criminal organizations that launder money.”

It added: “The transaction data obtained from the platform will be analyzed and charges may follow. The investigation is ongoing.”

Posts on Reddit show people asking why the exchange had stopped responding and working for users two months ago.

One user wrote: “Guys, what the hell is happening at TradeOgre? They’ve been radio silent and offline for like 24 hours now, I had around 25k USDT in order deposited on the platform, is it an exit scam? What’s the latest news?”

TradeOgre did not respond to Decrypt’s request for comment.

Blockchain data firm Arkham Intelligence said in a blog post that it had been following TradeOgre transactions as millions of dollars in crypto left the exchange.

It added that the exchange allowed users to trade in privacy coins—cryptocurrecnies whose transaction data is largely hidden to allow for anonymous money movements.

Bitcoin was recently trading at $116,670, up 1.8% over the past 24 hours and nearly 3% over the past week.