{"id":509934,"date":"2022-11-24T10:23:53","date_gmt":"2022-11-24T10:23:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wncen.com\/?p=509934"},"modified":"2024-06-11T07:52:24","modified_gmt":"2024-06-11T07:52:24","slug":"dump-incoming-rogue-btc-e-is-moving-165m-in-bitcoin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wncen.com\/news\/dump-incoming-rogue-btc-e-is-moving-165m-in-bitcoin\/","title":{"rendered":"Dump Incoming? Rogue BTC-e Sends $165 Million In Bitcoin To Personal Wallets And Exchanges"},"content":{"rendered":"

After a year of near dormancy, Bitcoin funds of the rogue exchange BTC-e are on the move again. Chainalysis, an American blockchain analysis firm headquartered in New York City, is reporting<\/a> that 10,000 BTC, worth about $165 million, have been transferred.<\/p>\n

The destination of the transactions are personal wallets, exchange deposit addresses and other services. Remarkably, the transfer is the largest withdrawal since April 2018.<\/p>\n

BTC-e was a crypto exchange that was founded in July 2011 and shut down in 2017 as a result of a joint investigation by the U.S. Secret Service and the FBI. According to the allegations, BTC-e was instrumental in laundering money for ransomware attacks.<\/p>\n

As NewsBTC reported<\/a>, security researchers estimated that BTC-e was responsible for 95% of all ransomware payments and their conversion into fiat currencies.<\/p>\n

Russian citizen and co-founder of BTC-e, Alexander Vinnik, was also allegedly involved in the theft of 530,000 of the more than 800,000 Bitcoin stolen from Mt. Gox<\/a>. After serving two years in prison in France, Vinnik was extradited to the U.S. in August.<\/p>\n

As Chainalysis notes, BTC-e still held a significant amount of Bitcoin at the time of its shutdown in 2017. In April 2018, BTC-e moved more than 30,000 Bitcoin from its service wallet. About $50 million of that went to the now-sanctioned OTC counter Suex.<\/p>\n

BTC-e Fraudster About To Dump Their Bitcoin?<\/h2>\n
Since then, the fraudulent exchange’s masterminds had been relatively quiet. Only in October 2021, BTC-e sent over 100 Bitcoin worth more than $6 million to personal wallets and eventually to several exchanges “that service Russia and other Eastern European countries,” according to Chainalysis.<\/p>\n
Related Reading: Bitcoin Price Prediction: Recovery Just Getting Started or It\u2019s Bull Trap?<\/a><\/div>\n
Yesterday’s transaction appears to be the tip of the iceberg and a longer-planned move. The fraudsters of BTC-e began withdrawing cryptocurrencies as early as a month ago. On Oct. 26, both BTC-e and its successor exchange WEX sent small amounts of Bitcoin to Webmoney, a Russian electronic payment service.<\/p>\n
Then, on November 11, BTC-e conducted a test by indirectly transferring 100 Bitcoin to an exchange. After seemingly being successful, BTC-e pulled of yesterdays big move.<\/p>\n
$\"Bitcoin$
BTC-e transaction as constructed by Chainalysis. Image: Chainalysis.com<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Chainalysis concluded that approximately 9,950 Bitcoin are remaining in personal wallets of the fraudsters, “while the rest was moved through a series of intermediaries to four deposit addresses at two large exchanges. In the case of Exchange 1, depicted above, our analysis suggests a Russian exchange<\/a> may have served as an intermediary to launder this BTC-e money”.<\/p>\n
CryptoQuant CEO Ki Young Ju confirmed that the BTC originate from the criminals linked to the 2014 Mt. Gox hack. “They sent 65 BTC to Hitbtc a few hours ago, so it’s not a gov auction or anything,” he said. Ju urged the exchange to suspend the account due to suspicious activity.<\/p>\n
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7-year-old 10,000 $BTC<\/a> moved today.<\/p>\n
No surprise, it's from criminals, like most of the old Bitcoins. It's the BTC-e exchange wallet related to the 2014 Mt. Gox hack.<\/p>\n
They sent 65 BTC to @hitbtc<\/a> a few hours ago, so it's not a gov auction or something.https:\/\/t.co\/6LnCxFAJfX<\/a> https:\/\/t.co\/YdPrvJafxY<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/Sp2higUqbq<\/a><\/p>\n
— Ki Young Ju (@ki_young_ju) November 24, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n