The U.S. government has reportedly transferred approximately $922 million worth of bitcoin from two crypto wallets that were previously seized in connection with a 2016 Bitfinex hack. According to data from Arkham Intelligence, the funds were moved to unidentified addresses.
The first wallet initiated the transfer by moving 1 bitcoin (equivalent to $60,200) on Wednesday afternoon EST. Subsequently, it transferred out a staggering 2817 bitcoin, valued at around $172.74 million. Simultaneously, another wallet executed transactions involving 0.01 bitcoin and 12,267 bitcoin, totaling approximately $748.46 million. The combined value of these bitcoin transfers from the two wallets stands at approximately $922 million.
The U.S. Department of Justice has yet to respond to inquiries from The Block regarding this development. These two wallets were originally associated with the Bitfinex hack that occurred in 2016. In August 2023, tech entrepreneur and rapper Heather Morgan, also known as ‘Razzlekhan,’ along with her husband Ilya Lichtenstein, pleaded guilty to money laundering conspiracy related to the 2016 hacking of the crypto trading platform Bitfinex. The Department of Justice confirmed that it had seized about 95,000 of the stolen bitcoin from crypto wallets controlled by the defendants.
Interestingly, these transfers coincided with a surge in bitcoin prices on Wednesday. The cryptocurrency briefly touched $64,000 on some exchanges before settling around $60,000.
