The funds are said to have been stolen from the now bankrupt crypto exchange ftx Moving on, and potentially heading to exchanges as hackers attempt to cash in the proceeds.
The funds have already been converted, according to an update from blockchain intelligence company Chainalysis. Ethereum (ETH) To bitcoin (btc) Through Renbridge (REN), a protocol that allows decentralized cross-chain transfers between many different blockchains.
The next possible step, according to Chainalysis, is for the funds to be sent to a coin mixing service where they originated, before hackers attempt to cash out.
“We are in close contact with our partners throughout the ecosystem as we work to help secure as many assets as possible for depositors to return to,” Chainalysis wrote.
Worth noting, however, is that any further transfers between ETH and BTC using Rainbridge are expected to be more difficult going forward, as Rainbridge is already announcement of The ban on new RenBTC mints. And although this was not announced for reasons related to the FTX hack, it would still mean that any remaining ETH in the hackers’ possession may need to be sold directly to fiat.
The situation around Rainbridge was also pointed out by popular Twitter user kamikaz_ETH, who said that hackers are “actively dumping ETH on-chain.”
“He is selling ETH to WBTC to RenBTC through aggregators like 1inch,” the user said.
Shortly after the tweet, the same user tweeted again, saying that the freeze announced by Rainbridge has now encouraged hackers to “dump ETH ASAP”.
According to Kamikaz_ETH, as of Monday morning, ETH sales for BTC were still taking place in Europe, with 185,000 ETH now remaining in the hacker’s main wallet.
Unclear circumstances surrounding the hack
it remains It is not clear who exactly took out FTX. As for the money, some claim it may have been an inside job, and others hinting the Bahamas government may have been involved in some way.
Notably, FTX itself has also issued a warning about the funds, and asked exchanges to return any funds from the hack. “Exchanges must take all measures to return these funds to the insolvent property,” said a tweet from FTX’s official Twitter account.
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