The post FTX Hacker Becomes Active Right Before SBF’s Trail, Moves 120 Million appeared first on Coinpedia Fintech News
As the trial involving Sam Bankman-Fried unfolds with new developments, there’s an update regarding the $470 million worth of cryptocurrency stolen during the FTX exchange crash.
The individual who made off with these assets is now attempting to convert them into regular currency while Sam Bankman-Fried stands trial. What’s surprising is that after remaining dormant for nine months, they’re estimated to convert approximately $20 million worth of stolen cryptocurrency into cash daily.
A portion of the stolen cryptocurrency, around $120 million worth of Ethereum, has been traded for Bitcoin on the multichain decentralized exchange THORSwap since September 30, 2023. In the days following the theft, the thief lost $94 million as they attempted to launder the funds through various means, including decentralized exchanges, cross-chain bridges, and mixers. Interestingly, $74 million was funneled through RenBridge, affiliated with Alameda Research, a sister company of FTX.
Recent analysis conducted by Elliptic reveals that approximately 72,500 Ether, part of the stolen assets from FTX, has recently become active. The first conversions of these assets occurred just days before Sam Bankman-Fried’s trial commencement on October 3. At the time of the initial theft, this converted amount was valued at $87 million, representing about 18% of the total stolen $477 million.
Elliptic reported, “The 180,000 ETH that was not converted to Bitcoin through RenBridge remained dormant until the early hours of Sep. 30, 2023 — by which time it was worth $300 million.”
The hacker responsible for the FTX breach seems to employ a similar strategy. They converted 65,000 ETH, equivalent to $100 million, into Bitcoin using RenBridge. Notably, a significant portion of the stolen cryptocurrency, approximately $434 million, consisted of stablecoins and other tokens.
Despite almost a year since the significant theft from FTX, the person behind the act remains unidentified. This heist occurred in November 2022, coinciding with the exchange’s bankruptcy proceedings.
