Russian Link Suspected in FTXs $477 Million Cryptocurrency Heist: Report
As FTX and its disgraced founder, Sam Bankman-Fried‘s courtroom drama continued to unfold in Manhatten, revealing astonishing details that led to the crypto giant’s unraveling, elsewhere, the trail of stolen funds from the exchange has been found to have a Russian connection. FTX filed for bankruptcy on November 11, 2022. Later that day, the exchange was hacked for $477 million. Russian Linked-Actor Behind FTX Heist？ The majority of the funds, primarily in ether (ETH), remained inactive for a period of five days. Subsequently, a substantial sum of 65,000 ETH (equivalent to $100 million) was moved to the Bitcoin blockchain using the RenBridge service. The perpetrators then utilized a mixer. Out of the 4,536 Bitcoins converted from Ether through RenBridge, approximately 2,849 BTC was sent through mixers, predominantly a service called ChipMixer. At least $4 million found its way to crypto exchanges, where it could potentially be converted into cash. There is speculation that the perpetrators could have made off with a larger sum if not for the swift action taken by FTX staff and bankruptcy advisors. They successfully safeguarded assets of over $300 million before the thief had a chance to gain access to them. Blockchain intelligence firm Elliptic stated that a Russia-linked actor seems a
