More than $3.6 billion worth of Bitcoin, stolen from cryptocurrency exchange Bitfinex in 2016, was moved to a new blockchain address earlier today. According to blockchain tracking service Whale Alert, hackers made 26 transactions, ranging from as little as 0.29 BTC to as high as 10,000 BTC.
Key takeaways:
- In total, 94,643 BTC have been transferred from a digital wallet linked to the Bitfinex hack in 2016 to an unknown wallet.
- In 2016, Bitfinex suffered the second-biggest security breach of any Bitcoin trading platform when attackers made aways with 119,656 BTC, worth roughly $72 million at the time. As of August 2020, Bitfinex is offering up to $400 million to anyone willing to provide information about the hackers.
- The hackers will have a tough time cashing out their Bitcoin via centralized crypto services as most coins connected with the 2016 security breach are actively tracked and blacklisted. Darknet markets and privacy wallets are the only viable methods for hackers to retain their anonymity and cash out their digital funds.
- The last time that the funds from the Bitfinex hack were moved was in April 2021, when the hackers transferred more than $700 million worth of Bitcoin to unknown wallets.
- Tom Robinson, the chief scientist and co-founder of blockchain security firm Elliptic, tweeted earlier today that the BTC that have been transferred today are “on the move” for the first time since 2016. Last May, Elliptic estimated that only 4% of the stolen bitcoins “have been laundered or exchanged.”
