The blockchain data firm, Chainalysis, recently released a report providing insights on the whereabouts of the assets worth millions of dollars robbed from KuCoin on September 25. The perpetrator has been primarily utilizing DeFi platforms like Kyber and Uniswap to wash the stolen assets. However, the blockchain analytics firm disclosed that some money had found its way into decentralized exchanges.
A couple of days ago, an anonymous attacker obtained the private keys to KuCoin’s hot wallet and stole ETH, BTC, along with other cryptos worth a staggering $281 million. Some blockchain companies have succeeded in freezing a portion of the assets. For instance, stablecoin firm Tether, and its parent company Bitfinex succeeded to seize $33 million in USDT from the KuCoin hack between themselves.
KuCoin funds used to buy bitcoin
Despite that, as of October 1, the hacker had successfully laundered about $13 million through DeFi platforms. Dex’s provides an excellent opportunity to clean stolen funds. Criminals can easily exchange their fraudulent assets into other new assets without dealing with policies and authorities. Furthermore, criminals don’t have to provide KYC details for verification.
Regardless, a section of the amount has been used recently to buy BTC on a centralized platform. According to Chainalysis, about 875 bitcoins, worth about $9 million, were bought using LTC from KuCoin attack and other cryptos, and even transferred from regulated exchanges. Also, Chainalysis highlights that nearly 683 BTC of the purchased 875 BTC were transferred to coin mixers.
Exchange attempting to restore some services
Ever since the hack, KuCoin has been attempting to restore a section of its products earlier this week. However, it’s still unclear when the exchange will restore most of its supported tokens. Some of its account holders still cannot access or deposit some key assets such as XRP and ethereum on the platform. However, pairs for the following tokens recently went live: Newscrypto, EdenChain, and WOM.
