Movement of Stolen FTX Funds Adds Intrigue Ahead of Founder’s Trial

Movement of Stolen FTX Funds Adds Intrigue Ahead of Founder’s Trial

Crypto News – The recent movement of funds just ahead of the impending trial of Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder and former CEO of FTX, has added a layer of intrigue to the lingering enigma surrounding the collapse of the exchange last year.

A wallet linked to the $600 million attack on FTX’s wallets in the past year, containing 15,000 ether (ETH), has seen its entire balance traversing through privacy tools and bridges.

In November 2022, shortly after FTX and its affiliated companies filed for bankruptcy, an anonymous entity successfully siphoned off substantial amounts, up to $600 million, from various wallets. A particular wallet held approximately $26 million worth of ETH, precisely 15,000 ether. Over the weekend, the first portion of 2,500 ETH (equivalent to $4 million) commenced movement, eventually finding its way to the Thorchain bridge, the Railgun privacy wallet, or intermediary addresses.

The remaining funds have also been relocated, and a considerable portion ended up at the Thorchain router in a similar fashion. Some of these funds were also directed to a contract identified as ‘Metamask: Swap Router.’

Railgun, functioning as a privacy wallet, empowers users to securely store tokens and engage in decentralized financial activities like lending and borrowing. Transactions within Railgun are shielded, keeping the precise utilization of the funds confidential. On the other hand, Thorchain serves as a bridge enabling users to seamlessly swap tokens across different blockchains without concerns about transfer obstructions.

Consequently, estimates suggest that addresses tied to the breach might have shifted over $32 million worth of ether using THORChain.

The movement of funds, occurring just before the upcoming trial of FTX’s founder and former chief executive, Sam Bankman-Fried, intensifies the ongoing mystery encircling the exchange’s collapse last year. The identities of the individuals or entities responsible for the attack remain undisclosed.

Following the breach, numerous addresses amassed diverse tokens such as ETH and the dai (DAI) stablecoin, consolidating them into 37,000 ether. At its peak, the address held over 288,000 ether and once ranked as the 35th-largest holder of this cryptocurrency, as previously documented.