According to blockchain analysis company Chainalysis, funds stolen from the FTX crypto exchange are now converted from ETH to Bitcoin. On November 20, Chainalysis signaled the thief’s intent to convert them into fiat money. He encouraged exchanges to freeze those coins in case he tried to hide the assets further in other ways. Meanwhile, the hacker’s actions caused selling pressure in Bitcoin and Ethereum. Here are the details…
FTX hacker on the move again
As we reported as Kriptokoin.com, amid the controversial collapse and bankruptcy of FTX, news came that an unknown actor had stolen 228,523 ETH from the exchange. The ownership of these coins, which are currently worth $268,057,479, currently puts the thief as one of the largest holders of ETH in the world. Initial reports suggest that all of these funds may be in the custody of securities regulators in the Bahamas. But Chainalysis disproved this theory. The analytics platform used the following statements:
Reports that the funds stolen from FTX were actually sent to the Bahamas Securities Commission are false. Some funds were stolen and other funds were sent to regulators.
2/ Reports that the funds stolen from FTX were actually sent to the Securities Commission of The Bahamas are incorrect. Some funds were stolen, and other funds were sent to the regulators.
— Chainalysis (@chainalysis) November 20, 2022
Ethereums converted to Wrapped Bitcoin
Currently, around 31,000 ETH has been converted to wrapped BTC. The thief then sent the coins to a Bitcoin mainnet wallet using the Ren Protocol. The final amount received was a total of 2444.55 BTC. So right now there is selling pressure on ETH and BTC. It has been a rough few weeks for those affected by the collapse of FTX and its subsidiaries. He noted today that FTX borrowers are in talks with Perella Weinberg Partners regarding various restructuring initiatives. However, the situation is subject to the approval of the bankruptcy court.
Meanwhile, Sam Bankman-Fried, the company’s founder, is allegedly “under surveillance” in the Bahamas. But some fear that if given the opportunity, they may try to escape to Dubai. It is unclear how this will ultimately turn out, given the evidence sharing, judicial cooperation and criminal investigation process of the UAE and the US. Executives are still assessing the wreckage caused by FTX’s bankruptcy. The crypto firm owes $3.1 billion to some of its biggest creditors.
Ethereum price drops
Meanwhile, Ethereum is changing hands at $1,120, down 8.9 percent at the time of writing. The coin has a market cap of $137 billion. Investors focused on ETH the other day as reports surfaced that the hacker had converted his stash of ETH into Bitcoin. Cryptocurrency reporter Colin Wu pointed out that RenBTC was purchased for 30,000 ETH. He also said that 1,070 Bitcoins were transferred to the BTC network.
Last week, reports surfaced that crypto lender BlockFi is poised for a potential bankruptcy. Christian Catalini, founder of the MIT Cryptoeconomics Lab; He says the FTX issues are a reminder that regulatory clarity is needed. Today’s ETH price correction also came as a result of a broader market correction. The broader cryptocurrency market fell 5.6 percent to just under $800 billion. ETH fell 8 percent, while Bitcoin corrected more than 4 percent. It briefly fell below $16,000. It’s changing hands at $16,199 at the time of writing.
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