Experts from Arkham Intelligence detected the movement of funds from a U.S. government-controlled wallet.
- Approximately $20 million in crypto assets were transferred from this wallet.
- The assets were then sent to various services for quick exchanges.
- ZachXBT reported that this was a hack. Arkham Intelligence agrees with these findings.
On the evening of October 24, 2024, experts from Arkham Intelligence detected the movement of crypto assets in a wallet allegedly linked to the U.S. government. The crypto detective using the pseudonym ZachXBT suggested that this might be a hack, as the funds were sent to so-called instant exchanges.
Shortly before these transactions occurred, experts from Arkham Intelligence also reported the withdrawal of USDT and USDC from the Aave protocol, marking the first time in eight months.
These funds, along with 177.89 ETH and 13.7 million AUSDC, were transferred to a new wallet. Subsequently, according to ZachXBT, the funds were sent to so-called instant exchanges, such as N.Exchange and Switchain.
He stated that it is likely a case of hacking. Later, a clarification appeared on Arkham Intelligence’s page on X (formerly Twitter), where the company supported the conclusions of the crypto detective.
โWe suspect that the attacker has already started to launder the funds,โ the experts stated.
As of the time of writing, there is no official confirmation that this is a theft.
The USDT, USDC, Ethereum, and AUSDC mentioned in this article are connected to the investigation of the 2016 hack of the Bitfinex exchange.
As a reminder, in August 2023, one of the accused, Ilya Lichtenstein, pleaded guilty. His wife, Heather Morgan, was an accomplice. The couple stole 120,000 BTC, with about 94,000 BTC being traceable.
In October 2024, US authorities recognized Bitfinex as the sole victim of the hack. This means that clients of the exchange whose funds were stolen will be able to file claims for reimbursement.