More stolen Bitfinex crypto ‘mysteriously moved’ to new address

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More of the SegWitCoin (BTC) stolen from crypto exchange Bitfinex was moved to a new address last Monday, sparking fresh speculation over the identity of the hackers behind the theft.

According to reports from Twitter-based transaction monitoring channel Whale Alert, some 30 BTC were transferred to a previously unused BTC wallet address, equivalent to around $351,000.

⚠ 30.667542 #BTC (351,015 USD) of stolen funds transferred from Bitfinex Hack 2016 to unknown wallet

Tx: https://t.co/ipfik2Tpd2

— Whale Alert (@whale_alert) August 12, 2019

Despite attempts to trace those behind the hack, their identity remains a mystery. The sizeable theft left countless Bitfinex customers out of pocket, as well as putting significant strain on the exchange, in one of the most sizeable hacks to affect a crypto exchange to date.

Back in 2016, Bitfinex was hacked to the tune of 119,756 BTC, an amount worth around $350 million around the time of the hack. However, given the inflation in BTC prices, the hack today is worth an estimated $1.3 billion.

The vast majority of the fund stolen are still missing, despite the best efforts of law enforcement agencies. While authorities in the US were able to recover some of the lost funds, this amounted to a mere 22.66 BTC — worth roughly $104,000 equivalent.

According to similar reports from June, just under $1.4 million was moved from the exchange to an unknown wallet arrest. To date, Bitfinex denies any involvement in moving the funds, despite alluding to the potential for transfers of this kind in the UNUS SED LEO token white paper.

The case will be of interest to those who lost out from the theft, which stands as one of the most high profile thefts of its kind from a major exchange.

The news will come as small comfort, with the current location of the funds still unknown and largely undetectable, due to the pseudonymous nature of BTC transactions.

It remains unclear whether the move is part of a broader phased strategy to move the funds to secure wallet addresses for withdrawal, instigated by those behind the attacks.

The case goes to show the vulnerabilities of major exchanges, and exposes the flaws that remain with the BTC blockchain. For the time being, it serves as only the latest reminder of the dangers of holding BTC, particularly in hot wallet and exchange accounts.