Crypto Heist? $20M Drained from US Government Wallet

Crypto Heist? $20 Million Drained from US Government Wallet

Written by Gode S.,

Web3 Market Analyst

Last Updated: October 25, 2024

Key Takeaways

Over $20 million in crypto was transferred from a US government wallet to a new address;
Blockchain investigator ZachXBT flagged these movements as potentially criminal;
The assets were initially confiscated from the 2016 Bitfinex hack.

On October 24, more than $20 million in crypto was moved from a wallet under US government control, raising concerns about a possible theft.

The assets, seized from the infamous Bitfinex $933.56M hack, were transferred to a new address just five days old, beginning with "0x348."

Arkham Intelligence reported that this address received $13.7 million in aUSDC, $5.5 million in USD Coin USDC $0.9978 , $1.25 million in Tether USDT $0.9976 , and $446,000 in Ethereum ETH $3,351.85 .

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These transfers caught the attention of ZachXBT, a well-known anonymous blockchain investigator. Describing the activity as "nefarious," he suggested that the funds might have been stolen.

The recipient wallet used 1inch, a DEX aggregator, to convert the stablecoins into Ethereum, which was later sent to instant exchanges like N Exchange , Switchain, and a "nested exchange" that relies on Binance for liquidity.

The 2016 Bitfinex hack, where these assets were confiscated from, was one of the largest crypto heists in history. The perpetrators, Ilya Lichtenstein and Heather Morgan, are a married couple from New York City who later admitted to money laundering conspiracies. Prosecutors are currently seeking a five-year prison sentence for Lichtenstein due to his significant involvement in the crime and other related offenses, while Morgan faces an 18-month jail term.