Crypto Market Speculation: Is the US Government Selling Seized Funds from Bitfinex Hacker?
Highlights:
- $20 million in crypto assets moved from a US Government address to a potential hacker's address.
- Arkham Intelligence reports the attacker’s address has started selling the stolen funds.
- Market watchers speculate about government selloffs amid developments in the United States v. Lichtenstein lawsuit.
In an unprecedented development, on-chain data indicates that a U.S. Government wallet has recently begun shifting nearly $20 million worth of crypto assets, including ETH, USDT, USDC, and aUSDC. This transfer raised alarms across the crypto market, especially as a portion of these funds was soon recorded as being sold on a crypto exchange.
Are Government Selloffs Related to the Bitfinex Hack?
According to the latest on-chain data from Arkham Intelligence, the US Government-linked address 0xc9E appears to have been compromised. Approximately $20 million in USDC, USDT, aUSDC, and ETH were suspiciously transferred to another address, 0x348. Notably, 148 ETH was later sold to Binance, a major cryptocurrency exchange.
For context, the US government wallet address 0xc9E had received these Bitfinex hack-related crypto funds from nine other seizure addresses, including 0xE2F, which is mentioned in the court documents pertaining to the Bitfinex hack.
Arkham's findings suggest that the address 0x348 has started selling some of the crypto moved from the US government wallet. This has ignited speculation in the market about whether these actions are part of the government's strategy related to recent lawsuit developments.
Developments in the United States v. Lichtenstein Lawsuit
Earlier this month, CoinGape Media reported that the United States v. Lichtenstein lawsuit has intensified scrutiny on Ilya Lichtenstein, the alleged mastermind behind the $6 billion Bitfinex hack. US prosecutors are seeking a minimum 5-year prison sentence for Lichtenstein, making this one of the largest crypto hacks in history.
The recent movement of funds from the US government wallet has fueled speculation about potential sell-offs by the government itself. Arkham’s analysis indicates that the attacker employed a money laundering service to facilitate these sell-offs.
Overall, market watchers are closely monitoring the movements of these wallets to gain clarity on the situation. Notably, this transaction marks the first AAVE transaction by the US government since February.
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