Bitcoin stolen in a $72 million hack just started moving

By Will Heasman

Some of the remaining stash of the $72 million hack of crypto exchange Bitfinex in 2016, is on the move.

Earlier today, Whale Alert, which tracks large movements of Bitcoin, tweeted that 28.3 Bitcoin ($260,000)—originating from a Bitfinex hack four years ago—had been transferred to an unknown wallet.

The 2016 hack saw approximately 120,000 Bitcoin appropriated from Bitfinex coffers. Back then, the price of Bitcoin was around $600—amounting to a total loss of $72 million. By today's prices, however, the stolen funds are worth upward of $1 billion.

This isn't the first time hackers have attempted to sell part of the Bitfinex bounty. In June 2019, the assailants moved 185 Bitcoin in six separate transactions. At the time Bitcoin was worth little over 10,000 apiece.

Of course—as with every significant transfer—the community feared the worst, with several auguring an imminent dump. 

“Huge dump coming !!!,” tweeted one panicked trader. 

WhaleAlert has kept us informed of several important transfers recently. On wednesday, it pointed out that 50 Bitcoin had moved from a dormant wallet. It had been mined in Bitcon’s first month of existence. 

However, the tweet also suggested that it might have been Bitcoin inventor Satoshi Nakamoto who moved the coins, when analysts pointed out this is very unlikely.

As reported by Decrypt, as much as 15% of the Bitcoin has already been sent to exchanges. As for the remaining coins, they remain unspent, for now.

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