A hacker might have stolen over $20 million price of crypto, together with stablecoins and Ethereum (ETH), from a US government-controlled pockets related to the notorious 2016 Bitfinex hack.
The suspicious transfers occurred on Oct. 24, elevating alarms amongst blockchain analysts, together with ZachXBT, who referred to as the transfers “nefarious” and hinted at potential theft.
Arkham Intelligence first flagged the transfers from the pockets, which had been dormant for eight months earlier than it immediately moved $1.25 million in Tether (USDT) and $5.5 million in USD Coin (USDC) from the DeFi platform Aave.
Moreover, round $13.7 million in aUSDC — an interest-bearing token representing USDC deposited in Aave — together with $446,000 price of Ethereum, was despatched to a lately created pockets.
The funds had been seized by US authorities as a part of the investigation into the 2016 Bitfinex hack, by which over $3.6 billion in digital belongings have been stolen. Following the seizure, the government-held pockets had obtained important quantities of crypto.
Additional evaluation revealed that roughly $320,000 price of Ethereum was despatched to varied exchanges, whereas one other $80,000 was distributed throughout a number of smaller wallets. The pockets that obtained these funds had been created solely days earlier than the switch, intensifying issues concerning the suspicious nature of the transactions.
As of press time, the Division of Justice has not commented on the state of affairs or supplied info concerning the transfers. Analysts and blockchain consultants are persevering with to observe the motion of the funds because the investigation unfolds.
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