More bitcoin from the $1 billion Bitfinex hack has started moving

By Tim Copeland

More stolen funds from the 2016 Bitfinex hack are on the move.

Nearly three years ago, the security (or lack thereof) of crypto exchange Bitfinex was compromised to the tune of 119,756 bitcoin, worth just shy of a billion dollars at today’s prices. In February, this year, Bitfinex announced that it had managed to recover 27 of the stolen bitcoin, but this was just a tiny amount of the stolen funds. Then, in April, 550 bitcoin was moved, as the hacker began to siphon off the stolen funds.

Today, more funds were sent from these wallets to other addresses. According to Whale Alert, which tracks large crypto transactions and has incorporated the hacked addresses into its database, an additional 170 bitcoin ($1.3 million) has been shifted.

Now, as far-fetched as it sounds, it initially seemed like this had all gone to plan.

Bitfinex’s whitepaper for its LEO token—a last ditch effort to fill a $850 million funding gap—stated that it would be working with the hacker to work out a compromise. Specifically, it said that it would allow the hacker to keep some of the funds, as long as he returned the rest.

However, it appears that the hacker has other ideas, preferring to take what he can.

Bitfinex Marketing Director Anneka Dew told Hard Fork that the exchange was not involved with the movement of stolen funds in any way. She clarified that this was not part of the redemption process outlined in the LEO whitepaper.

This hack was one of the first in what has become a growing problem. Decrypt recently reported that scammers made off with more than $1.2 billion in the first quarter of this year alone—largely due to the QuadrigaCX scandal and the Bitfinex funding gap. We recently highlighted that crypto exchange hacks are one of the biggest problems this industry needs to deal with. And there are certainly a bunch of questions surrounding Bitfinex and its multiple security breaches.

How long before the rest of the hacked funds—and any more—disappear in a wisp of smoke?

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