FTX 'Hacker' Executes 15K ETH Transfer Over the Weekend

Just before the impending trial of Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder and former CEO of FTX, a significant development has occurred regarding the mysterious collapse of the exchange last year.

The entirety of the 15,000 ether (ETH) linked to the $600 million attack on FTX's wallets in the previous year has now been shifted using privacy-enhancing tools and bridge networks.

Back in November 2022, shortly after the declaration of bankruptcy by FTX and its affiliated entities, an unidentified entity successfully siphoned off substantial sums, potentially amounting to $600 million, from multiple wallets. A significant portion, approximately $26 million worth of ETH or 15,000 ether, remained in a solitary wallet until this past weekend. At that point, an initial portion of 2,500 ETH (equivalent to $4 million) commenced movement, ultimately culminating in transactions through the Thorchain bridge, the Railgun privacy wallet, or intermediary addresses.

Consequently, the remaining funds have also been relocated, with a notable proportion being directed towards the Thorchain router. Some of these funds were additionally directed towards a contract labeled "Metamask: Swap Router."

Railgun operates as a privacy-centric wallet, allowing users to securely store tokens and leverage them for decentralized financial activities like lending and borrowing. These transactions are conducted with an additional layer of privacy, thereby obscuring the precise utilization of these funds. In contrast, Thorchain functions as a bridge that empowers users to seamlessly exchange tokens between distinct blockchains, free from concerns about potential transaction interference.

As a result, it is estimated that addresses associated with the exploit may have facilitated the movement of over $32 million worth of ether by leveraging THORChain.

The recent shift in funds, occurring shortly before Sam Bankman-Fried's trial, adds a new layer of complexity to the ongoing enigma surrounding the exchange's collapse last year. The identities of the individuals or entities responsible for the attack remain undisclosed.

Subsequent to the attack, various addresses aggregated a diverse array of tokens, including ETH and the dai (DAI) stablecoin, and converted them into 37,000 ether. At its zenith, the address held over 288,000 ether and once ranked as the 35th-largest holder of the cryptocurrency, as previously reported.

And that's just the clearly stolen funds coming from theft addresses directly.

There's *at least* another 3,300+ ETH that's pretty clearly laundering—e.g. chunks straight from Tornado Cash, Railgun, or this one dude running from exch on ETH -> ThorSwap -> TradeOgre on BTC.

????

— Tay ???? (@tayvano_) October 1, 2023

Last year, Bankman-Fried faced federal charges, including two counts of wire fraud and five counts of conspiracy to commit various forms of fraud, shortly after stepping down from his position at FTX. His resignation coincided with FTX's declaration of bankruptcy.

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