After months of inactivity, Arkham Intelligence noted large chunks of funds had been moved from an address linked to the US government to an unmarked wallet. The transaction monitored by the blockchain intelligence company demonstrated hackers compromised the US government wallet to steal funds amounting to $20 million.
The suspicious activity grabs the attention of blockchain sleuths to probe the matter. The blockchain analyst noted that the hackers exploited a wallet ending … in C34c, which contained a measurable amount of crypto.
Hackers Exploit US Government Crypto Wallet
They noted that hackers spaced with USDC, USDT,aUSDC and Ethereum worth $20 million. The Arkham team observed that the compromised wallet had received a measurable amount of aUSDG seized from the British crypto exchange Bitfinex.
The address ending …..e42FB2ac was earlier mentioned in court in the ongoing Bitfinex case. The Bitfinex attack was ranked as the most significant attack in crypto history. Even though the perpetrators, Ilya Lichtenstein and his wife, Heather Morgan, were later arrested, the Bifinex case left many in financial crises.
It was reported that the couple stole 120,000 with over $8.2 billion at the current market price. The court report shows that the couple has pleaded guilty to engaging in money laundering and several criminal activities.
During the recent court proceeding, Lichtenstein admitted to being the mastermind behind the Bitfinex hack. Citing the damages caused by the Bitfinex attack, Lichtenstein might serve 20 years imprisonment, but their court might reduce the jail term to five years for cooperating with the law enforcer.
Also, the wife, whose role in the Bitfinex attack was minor, might remain behind bars for a period not exceeding 18 months. The relationship between the US government wallet and Bitfinex wallet raised severe security concerns, forcing the probing team to trace the movement of the funds.
The Arkham and ZackXBT noted that the hackers moved $1.25 million worth of USDT bad $5.5 million of USDC from an Aave. Subsequently, the criminals moved $13.7 million of AUSDC and $446,000 Ether to the unmarked wallet.
Community Reacts to the $20M US Government Crypto Hack
They later moved $320,000 Ethereum to multiple crypto exchanges and $80,000 ETH to the unidentified wallet. The blockchain detective noted that after the suspicious transfers, the hackers had converted the stolen USDT and USDC to Ether.
The Arkham noted that the criminals’ multiple transactions were a tactic to conceal their money laundering activities. The blockchain analyst noted the criminals moved the stolen assets to small wallets to avoid being noticed.
Even though the hackers did not steal all the US government’s money, the community has raised concerns about how a government-owned wallet could be exploited.
While authority proceeds with the investigation, the crypto community is left with mulling unanswered questions about who the hacker is and how he managed to compromise a government-controlled wallet that has been dormant. Others questioned were on how the government protects valuable assets.
Conclusion
The hack demonstrated that criminals are targeting private companies and government entities. Even though the US authority has not disclosed the status of the ongoing investigation, it is essential to implement adequate security measures on government-controlled systems to keep valuable assets safe and secure.
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