US Shuts Down Crypto Exchange E-Note, Charges Russian Administrator

US authorities this week announced the takedown of E-Note, a cryptocurrency exchange allegedly involved in laundering money for ransomware groups and other transnational cybercriminal organisations. The exchange has been used to transfer over $70 million in illicit funds since 2017, including proceeds from cyberattacks against US healthcare and critical infrastructure entities.

According to the authorities, the E-Note payment service and money mule network were used to transfer proceeds originating from ransomware attacks and account takeover incidents. In conjunction with the takedown, charges were brought against Mykhalio Petrovich Chudnovets, 39, of Russia, who controlled and operated the crypto exchange, with the indictment noting he has offered money laundering services since 2010.

The funds were sent across international borders and converted to various cash currencies, and servers hosting Chudnovets’s infrastructure, mobile apps, and the domains e-note[.]com, e-note[.]ws and jabb[.]mn were seized. Chudnovets was charged with money laundering conspiracy and faces up to 20 years in prison.