Nearly $1 billion in Bitcoin, previously confiscated by the U.S. government from the Bitfinex hack case, has been moved to unknown addresses in a swift series of transactions. This involves two wallets specifically identified as containing funds from the Bitfinex heist. The transactions unfolded in four separate moves over less than two hours.
Details of the transactions
The activity was first noticed when a wallet, flagged by blockchain-data analysis firm Arkham Intelligence for holding Bitfinex hacker funds on behalf of the government, initiated a transfer of 1 BTC at approximately 18:39 UTC. This was followed by transferring the remaining 2,817 BTC from the same wallet, effectively emptying it. These transactions amounted to around $173 million in bitcoin. Subsequently, another wallet containing about 12,300 BTC engaged in a similar pattern of transactions, first moving 0.01 BTC, then quickly transferring out the remaining balance. The total value of bitcoin moved from this second wallet approximated $750 million, bringing the cumulative value of assets transferred to about $923 million based on bitcoin’s current market price.
Background and context
The Bitfinex hack, from which these funds originate, remains one of the most infamous incidents in the crypto industry, not least due to the personalities involved, such as Heather “Razzlekhan” Morgan and Ilya Lichtenstein, both of whom have pleaded guilty in connection with the case. It is important also to note that the U.S. Justice Department previously announced the seizure of approximately 95,000 stolen bitcoins, valued at about $3.6 billion at the time, from wallets under the control of the defendants.
Furthermore, this recent unexpected transfer of seized bitcoin occurred amid a notably volatile trading day for the cryptocurrency, which saw its value surpass $60,000 for the first time since November 2021, only to experience a sharp downturn shortly after. The movement of such a substantial amount of Bitcoin from the seized wallets has reignited interest in the Bitfinex hack case, although the U.S. Justice Department has yet to comment on these developments.
Currently, another wallet associated with the U.S. government’s seizure from the Bitfinex hack still holds approximately 94,600 BTC, estimated to be worth around $5.79 billion at current prices.
