The hacker, dubbed “FTX Drainer”, who previously stole over $400 million from FTX and FTX.US in November, might be exploiting the media frenzy surrounding Sam Bankman-Fried’s fraud trial to further conceal the stolen assets, as per Hugh Brooks, CertiK’s director of security operations.
As Bankman-Fried’s trial commenced, the “FTX Drainer” initiated a series of transactions, moving millions in Ether obtained from the theft.
Recently, the hacker shifted about 15,000 ETH (equivalent to approximately $24 million) to three fresh wallet addresses.
Brooks suggests that the trial’s widespread media coverage might be serving as a distraction, allowing the hacker to stealthily move the assets.
He theorized that the perpetrator might have assumed the trial would consume so much of the Web3 sector’s attention that tracking the stolen funds would become more challenging.
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FTX’s valuation once stood at $32 billion.
However, following the hack, it filed for bankruptcy on November 11. On the same day, FTX staff noticed significant fund withdrawals from their wallets.
A Wired report dated Oct. 9 unveiled that on realizing the hacker had access to several wallets, FTX’s team shifted a significant portion of the remaining assets, between $400 million to $500 million, to a private Ledger cold wallet.
This strategic move probably thwarted the hacker from pilfering close to $1 billion.
Brooks has also shed light on the hacker’s evolving tactics. Initially, on November 21, the hacker tried laundering the stolen money using the “peel chain” method, which involves dispersing decreasing amounts to fresh wallets.
However, the hacker now adopts a more intricate technique, splitting the funds across numerous wallets. This makes tracing more time-consuming.
As of now, the identities of individuals or groups responsible for the hack remain elusive, and investigations persist.
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