FTX exploiter converts another $25M worth of ETH to BTC, total up to $100M

The FTX exploiter transformed one other $25 million value of stolen Ethereum (ETH) to Bitcoin (BTC) on Oct. 4 over two transactions amounting to five,625 ETH and 9,375 ETH, respectively, primarily based on Spot On Chain’s data.

The transactions occurred with a spot of roughly eight hours, with the tokens transformed to BTC by way of THORChain Router — a bridge protocol to Bitcoin.

The handle in query nonetheless holds $208.481 in numerous cryptocurrencies, with greater than 95% held in Ethereum.

Not dormant

The FTX exploiter, who had been virtually totally dormant virtually the whole thing of the ten months because the hack passed off, immediately started changing thousands and thousands of {dollars} value of ETH to BTC on Sept. 30.

Since then, the hacker has transformed over $100 million of the stolen ETH  token to BTC over 12 transactions break up over six days.

The timing of those vital fund actions coincides with the start of FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried’s court docket trial, stirring hypothesis a few potential insider’s position within the large hack that transpired in January 2023.

The preliminary transaction quantities on the primary day had been stored comparatively low, starting from a low of 1,250 ETH to 2,500 ETH. Nevertheless, on Oct. 2, the exploiter executed a transaction amounting to 4,500 ETH. Following that, a lot of the transaction quantities grew to 7,500 every.

Earlier than the Oct. 4 transactions, the exploiter moved 30,000 ETH on Oct. 2 and three in 4 tranches of seven,500 ETH every. The tokens had been transformed to BTC by way of THORChain and Railgun.

The Preliminary Breach

On Nov. 11, 2022, accounts associated to each FTX and FTX US had been emptied simply hours after FTX declared chapter. The occasion occurred shortly after the corporate’s founder, SBF, introduced his departure from the worldwide crypto empire.

On the time of the hack, the attacker seized over $600 million in ETH.

Following the breach, round 2,500 ETH, valued at a little bit over $4 million, had been seen shifting. The funds had been initially divided in half and additional break up in subsequent operations:

• 700 ETH was transferred utilizing the Thorchain Router.
• 1,200 ETH was channeled by way of the Railgun privateness instrument, which shields transaction particulars.
• 550 ETH was left in a transitional pockets.
• Moreover, 12,500 ETH, estimated to be value about $21 million, remained within the originating pockets.

John J. Ray III, who took cost because the CEO and Chief Restructuring Officer overseeing FTX’s chapter proceedings, later reported that the hack resulted in a lack of $323 million in different tokens from FTX’s worldwide alternate. The U.S. platform individually misplaced $90 million.

The identification of the hacker — or hackers — stays a thriller. Some 21,500 ETH, valued at $27 million in the course of the incident, was exchanged for the stablecoin DAI shortly after the intrusion.

Moreover, 288,000 ETH continued to be held in addresses linked with the hacker — an enormous chunk of it now transformed to Bitcoin and moved to unknown addresses.