(Commonwealth Union)_ Funds allegedly stolen from the now-defunct cryptocurrency exchange FTX are on the move and are presumably on their way to exchanges as hackers attempt to cash out the proceeds.
According to an update from American blockchain analysis firm Chainalysis, the funds have already been transferred from Ethereum (ETH) to Bitcoin (BTC) via RenBridge (REN), a protocol that allows for decentralised cross-chain transactions across a variety of different blockchains.
According to Chainalysis, the funds will most likely be transmitted to a coin-mixing service in order to obscure where they came from before the hackers attempt to cash out. “We are in contact with our ecosystem partners as we attempt to secure as many assets as possible to refund to depositors,” the firm wrote.
However, any future transfers between ETH and BTC via RenBridge are expected to become more difficult, with RenBridge already declaring a freeze on new renBTC mints. And, while this was revealed for reasons unrelated to the FTX attack, it would still imply that any remaining ETH in the hackers’ control would have to be sold directly to fiat.
The situation surrounding RenBridge has also been brought to the attention of popular Twitter user kamikaz ETH, who claims that the hackers are “actively dumping ETH on-chain”. “He’s selling ETH to wBTC to renBTC via aggregators like 1inch,” said the user. A short while later, the same individual tweeted again, adding that RenBridge’s freeze had now motivated hackers to “dump the ETH ASAP”.
According to kamikaz ETH, the hacker was still selling ETH to BTC on Monday morning in Europe, with 185,000 ETH remained in the hacker’s main wallet.
It is unclear who exactly emptied FTX for the funds, with some suggesting it was an inside job and others implying the Bahamas government was also involved in some way. Notably, FTX has also issued a warning concerning the money and has encouraged exchanges to return any monies obtained as a result of the attack. “Exchanges should take all necessary steps to ensure that these funds are returned to the bankruptcy estate,” said a tweet from FTX’s official Twitter account.
