Just In: US Government Wallets Receive $19.3M Back Following Alleged Hack

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As a seasoned blockchain analyst with over a decade of experience in digital assets and cybersecurity, I find myself intrigued by this recent incident involving the U.S. government wallet. The return of most of the stolen funds is indeed a positive development, but the fact that some funds remain unaccounted for raises concerns about potential money laundering activities.

On Thursday, a government account holding approximately $20 million was emptied, causing speculation. However, by Friday, the majority of the funds were restored, leading to discussions about the mysterious event, with some suggesting it could be linked to one of the largest heists in 2021. This incident also sparked attention on Twitter.

On Thursday, ZachXBT, a detective in the blockchain world, flagged some unusual transactions. He mentioned that the wallet was involved in interactions with various Decentralized Finance (DeFi) platforms and swift exchanges, which he characterized as a questionable sequence of money movements.

US Government Recovers Millions in Stolen Crypto from Hacker

As per blockchain analyst ZachXBT’s statements, it is reported that a hacker suspected of stealing approximately $20 million in digital assets from a U.S. government wallet has now repaid around $19 million. Today, the transaction involved sending 2,408 ETH and 13.19 million aUSDC back to the government’s wallet. Nevertheless, funds that were previously moved to platforms like Switchain and HitBTC have not yet been recovered.

According to Arkham Intelligence’s on-chain data, approximately $19.3 million worth of Ethereum and USDC had been transferred back to a wallet by early Friday. Yet, ZachXBT mentioned in his Telegram group that the money sent to exchanges has yet to be retrieved.

Based on data from Arkham, the government’s wallet is currently falling around $1.2 million short of its initial $20 million loss. This shortfall can be traced back to assets that were seized by the U.S. Department of Justice in connection with the notorious 2016 Bitfinex hack.

As an analyst, I’ve been reviewing the latest findings from Arkham, and it appears that the government-managed wallet is currently around $1.2 million shy of its initial target of replenishing the $20 million lost. These funds can be traced back to assets linked with the infamous 2016 Bitfinex hack, which were subsequently seized by the U.S. Department of Justice earlier on.

Arkham Intelligence Raises Concerns

Previously, there had been some transactions in crypto wallets managed by the U.S. government. It was found that assets previously seized were taken out of Aave, and approximately $20 million in total was moved from these government-held funds. This significant transfer caught Arkham Intelligence’s attention, as they noted that around $20 million worth of USDC, USDT, aUSDC, and ETH had been transferred from an address linked to the U.S. government in a suspicious manner.

Specifically, it is claimed that the address “0xc9E” received the confiscated funds, which are believed to be connected to the hackers from the Bitfinex incident. These funds were transferred via nine different addresses, one of them being “0xE2F,” which was referenced in court documents pertaining to the Bitfinex case.

The court records concerning Bitfinex hack suspects Ilya Lichtenstein and Heather Rhiannon Morgan pointed to additional addresses linked to Aave, Curve Finance, and Yearn Finance, among others labeled as “0xE2F.” These addresses allegedly held approximately 1.99 million USDT in the Yearn’s Liquidity Pool address “0xaC8”, 3.69 million USDT in the “0xE2F” address, and another 1.7 million USDT in yet another Yearn address “0x681”.

Following the transaction, Arkham observed that the funds ended up in wallet “0x348,” which seemed to have been converted into Ethereum (ETH). Arkham grew suspicious that the hacker might have started washing the assets via wallets associated with a money laundering platform.

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2024-10-25 18:48