09-14-2021, 11:48 AM
A big chunk of Bitcoin is being moved around at an alarminng rate
<!-- SC_OFF --><div class="md"><p>45,000 BTC amounting to $2B being moved around several wallets in the last 12 hours. It made me curious about why this happened which is very unusual and I did my research. If the rumor is true then it is because FTX got hacked. </p> <p>They denied the allegation but the movement is really suspicious and even goes through several illegal Russian marketplace wallets (Hydra) and Bitcoin tumbler. Here's what I can found on Twitter</p> <p>Source: ncweaver twitter</p> <p>" This is frankly bizarre, and I'm convinced 90% certain that FTX got hacked. We are seeing a slug of $2B worth of Bitcoin being passed through a "peeling chain", each step takes off a little (a few bucks to a couple thousand) with the rest remaining intact. Some of the peeled Bitcoin is to new wallets. Some is actually to very old active wallets (e.g. this: <a href="https://blockchair.com/bitcoin/address/3Q34R8mDakAhFDzrze8TCZcqjKtSuerc8E%E2%80%A6">https://blockchair.com/bitcoin/address/3Q34R8mDakAhFDzrze8TCZcqjKtSuerc8E…</a> ) </p> <p>My suspicion: Stealing $2B in Bitcoin is easy. Laundering $2B is hard. But there is an advantage: FTX can't admit the theft... If FTX admits it they implode in a nanosecond as they are insolvent. So they keep quiet and deny. In the meantime, the thief's cashout strategy: Peel off Bitcoin. Some of it to just garbage wallets. Some of it is Robin Hodled and sent to existing wallets. Heck, waste most of it in the end, but keep about 1% and throw that through mixers, chain swaps, and other techniques. And keep doing it just $1k at a time. And walk away with with a huge paycheck. And if FTX dares complain, send the rest to 1BitcoinEaterAddressDontSendf59kuE. </p> <p>The alternate interpretation, that this is FTX in offline-signature mode doing some peeling, is lunacy. It would mean they didn't just move MOST of the slug into cold storage and split off the amount to distribute in a separate hunk first, which is frankly bizarre. Plus, peeling is O(N) time, so it takes forever. Doing a tree split is O(lg(N)) time to complete. Also, if this is an automated system that dumped a TON of signatures, they could easily stop the chain: Just have replacement transaction signed, just a little ahead (you have the TXID needed to do it), with a high fee. Now it goes to that transaction, and the chain dies. "</p> <p>Would love to hear your thoughts.</p> <p>EDIT: The amount of bitcoin keep on dwindling. 44.5k now</p> <p>EDIT2: Found an interesting tweet to help visualize it <a href="https://twitter.com/BtcBlockBot">https://twitter.com/BtcBlockBot</a> thanks to <a href="/u/NvidiaRTX">u/NvidiaRTX</a></p> </div><!-- SC_ON --> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/LebornVsMikeShinoda"> /u/LebornVsMikeShinoda </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/CryptoCurrency/comments/pnsiq6/a_big_chunk_of_bitcoin_is_being_moved_around_at/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/CryptoCurrency/comments/pnsiq6/a_big_chunk_of_bitcoin_is_being_moved_around_at/">[comments]</a></span>Kind Regards R
<!-- SC_OFF --><div class="md"><p>45,000 BTC amounting to $2B being moved around several wallets in the last 12 hours. It made me curious about why this happened which is very unusual and I did my research. If the rumor is true then it is because FTX got hacked. </p> <p>They denied the allegation but the movement is really suspicious and even goes through several illegal Russian marketplace wallets (Hydra) and Bitcoin tumbler. Here's what I can found on Twitter</p> <p>Source: ncweaver twitter</p> <p>" This is frankly bizarre, and I'm convinced 90% certain that FTX got hacked. We are seeing a slug of $2B worth of Bitcoin being passed through a "peeling chain", each step takes off a little (a few bucks to a couple thousand) with the rest remaining intact. Some of the peeled Bitcoin is to new wallets. Some is actually to very old active wallets (e.g. this: <a href="https://blockchair.com/bitcoin/address/3Q34R8mDakAhFDzrze8TCZcqjKtSuerc8E%E2%80%A6">https://blockchair.com/bitcoin/address/3Q34R8mDakAhFDzrze8TCZcqjKtSuerc8E…</a> ) </p> <p>My suspicion: Stealing $2B in Bitcoin is easy. Laundering $2B is hard. But there is an advantage: FTX can't admit the theft... If FTX admits it they implode in a nanosecond as they are insolvent. So they keep quiet and deny. In the meantime, the thief's cashout strategy: Peel off Bitcoin. Some of it to just garbage wallets. Some of it is Robin Hodled and sent to existing wallets. Heck, waste most of it in the end, but keep about 1% and throw that through mixers, chain swaps, and other techniques. And keep doing it just $1k at a time. And walk away with with a huge paycheck. And if FTX dares complain, send the rest to 1BitcoinEaterAddressDontSendf59kuE. </p> <p>The alternate interpretation, that this is FTX in offline-signature mode doing some peeling, is lunacy. It would mean they didn't just move MOST of the slug into cold storage and split off the amount to distribute in a separate hunk first, which is frankly bizarre. Plus, peeling is O(N) time, so it takes forever. Doing a tree split is O(lg(N)) time to complete. Also, if this is an automated system that dumped a TON of signatures, they could easily stop the chain: Just have replacement transaction signed, just a little ahead (you have the TXID needed to do it), with a high fee. Now it goes to that transaction, and the chain dies. "</p> <p>Would love to hear your thoughts.</p> <p>EDIT: The amount of bitcoin keep on dwindling. 44.5k now</p> <p>EDIT2: Found an interesting tweet to help visualize it <a href="https://twitter.com/BtcBlockBot">https://twitter.com/BtcBlockBot</a> thanks to <a href="/u/NvidiaRTX">u/NvidiaRTX</a></p> </div><!-- SC_ON --> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/LebornVsMikeShinoda"> /u/LebornVsMikeShinoda </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/CryptoCurrency/comments/pnsiq6/a_big_chunk_of_bitcoin_is_being_moved_around_at/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/CryptoCurrency/comments/pnsiq6/a_big_chunk_of_bitcoin_is_being_moved_around_at/">[comments]</a></span>Kind Regards R