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FBI dismantles alleged $70M crypto laundering operation. Justice Department claims unlicensed exchange funneled ransomware profits. US feds have dismantled a crypto laundering service that they say helped cybercrooks wash tens of millions of dollars in dirty digital cash, seizing its servers and unsealing charges against an alleged Russian operator. The FBI, working with cops in Europe and a grab bag of state and federal agencies, announced this week that it has taken down the infrastructure behind E-Note, an unlicensed virtual currency exchange accused of acting as a financial rinse cycle for ransomware crews, account takeover gangs, and other online criminals. According to prosecutors in the Eastern District of Michigan, E-Note and its associated money mule networks moved more than $70 million in illicit proceeds between 2017 and the takedown, converting stolen or extorted cryptocurrency into cash and other assets that were harder for authorities to trace. Investigators seized servers, mobile apps, and multiple domains used to operate the service, including e-note.com and e-note.ws, effectively pulling the plug on the platform. US authorities also unsealed an indictment charging 39-year-old Russian national Mykhalio Petrovich Chudnovets with conspiracy to launder monetary instruments. Prosecutors allege Chudnovets has been offering laundering services to financially motivated cybercrooks since at least 2010 via the E-Note service, "which he controlled and operated." US law enforcement separately obtained earlier copies of Chudnovets' servers, including customer databases and transaction records, according to the announcement. If convicted, Chudnovets faces up to 20 years behind bars, though he remains at large and, like all defendants, is presumed innocent unless and until a court says otherwise. Officials framed the operation as a strike not just against one service, but against the financial plumbing that keeps cybercrime profitable. Unlike regulated exchanges, E-Note allegedly operated with little to no anti-money laundering controls, making it attractive to ransomware operators, including those targeting healthcare and critical infrastructure organizations. The takedown fits into a broader law enforcement push aimed at choking off the services that sit between cybercrime and payday. US authorities have increasingly focused on mixers and rogue exchanges rather than just the hackers at the keyboard, arguing that disrupting cash-out options raises costs and friction across the criminal ecosystem. Whether knocking out E-Note delivers a lasting blow remains to be seen, but US feds are clearly betting that yanking out the middlemen hurts more than chasing individual thieves.