Seized Bitfinex hack funds worth $922m transferred by US government using Bitcoin
The U.S. government has reportedly transferred Bitcoin (BTC) from two wallets that held funds seized in the 2016 Bitfinex hack. According to Arkham Intelligence, on February 28, between 18:39 UTC and 19:55 UTC, U.S. authorities conducted four transactions, moving nearly a billion dollars worth of Bitcoin.
The first wallet transferred 1 BTC, valued at $60,200 at the time of the transaction. The U.S. government then transferred an additional 2,817 BTC, worth approximately $172.74 million, to unknown addresses. Less than an hour later, from another wallet, the government conducted two transactions, transferring 0.01 BTC and 12,267 BTC, worth about $748.46 million. This brought the total volume to approximately $922 million at the time of the transfer.
The U.S. government is known as one of the largest Bitcoin whales, with over 200,000 BTC on its balance sheet, valued at $12.44 billion, according to Arkham Intelligence. Of this amount, around 94,600 BTC were seized due to the Bitfinex platform hack, as reported by 21.co.
In the 2016 Bitfinex hack, hackers stole almost 120,000 BTC. In February 2019, U.S. authorities returned over 27,000 BTC to the exchange, converted them into dollars, and distributed them to holders of RRT tokens.
Ilya Lichtenstein, the individual behind the attack, confessed to infiltrating Bitfinex’s security systems over an extended period. The motive behind Lichtenstein’s decision to target Bitfinex in 2016 was allegedly connected to the difficulties he faced with his technology startup in San Francisco.
Read more: Bitfinex hackers may plead guilty, prosecutors to recover $3 billion
