Approximately $923 Million in bitcoin from the Bitfinex Hack Case, Previously Seized by the U.S. Government, Have Been Swiftly Moved to Unknown Addresses
A Closer Look at the Transactions
On February 8, 2023, a significant shift of cryptocurrency assets was detected from two wallets identified by blockchain-data analysis firm Arkham Intelligence as containing funds linked to the Bitfinex hack on behalf of the U.S. government. The transactions, which took place within a span of less than two hours, involved emptying two specific wallets holding a combined total of approximately 31,117 btc ($1.89 billion at the time).
The first wallet, flagged by Arkham Intelligence due to its association with the Bitfinex hacker funds, transferred 1 btc ($59,204.27) at around 18:39 UTC, followed by a massive movement of the remaining 2,816.58 btc ($172,697,544.36) to an unknown destination, effectively emptying the wallet.
A second wallet, containing approximately 12,300 btc ($751,896,548.13), exhibited a similar pattern of transactions. It initially moved 0.01 btc ($0.06) and then quickly transferred out the entire balance to an undisclosed recipient.
The first wallet’s transactions amounted to around $173 million in bitcoin, while the second wallet saw a transfer of approximately $750 million worth of bitcoin, resulting in a cumulative value of over $923 million based on the current market price.
Background and Context
The Bitfinex hack, which occurred in August 2016, is among the most notable incidents in the crypto industry due to its significant impact on the market and the involvement of high-profile individuals. Heather “Razzlekhan” Morgan and Ilya Lichtenstein, both implicated in the case, have since pleaded guilty to their roles.
Interestingly, the U.S. Justice Department had previously announced the seizure of approximately 95,000 stolen bitcoins from wallets controlled by the defendants, valued at around $3.6 billion at the time. The recent unexpected transfer of seized bitcoin took place during a particularly volatile trading day for the cryptocurrency, which witnessed its value exceeding $60,000 for the first time since November 2021 before experiencing a sharp downturn.
The movement of such a substantial amount of bitcoin from seized wallets has sparked renewed interest in the Bitfinex hack case, although the U.S. Justice Department has yet to comment on these recent developments. Currently, another wallet related to the U.S. government’s seizure from the Bitfinex hack still holds approximately 94,600 btc ($5.78 billion) at current prices.
