Hacker tries to flee with cash as Solana takes a dip due FTX case

The drama surrounding Sam Bankman-Fried and the FTX debacle continues to bring widespread FUD across the Crypto Currency market and amongst the haze of distraction a hacker who stole USD 470 Million during the FTX crash is currently withdrawing millions of dollars into fiat currency.
The accounts holding the funds were owned by FTX and are reported stolen/hacked with limited information provided on how access to these accounts was gained. The accounts have remained dormant for 9 months while investigations against FTX are ongoing.

But now that the case against the former CEO of FTX are underway, the accounts have once again become active with assets sent to a Crypto Tumbler in an attempt to mask where the funds are going.

But long term Crypto hack investigators Elliptic have been able to trace most movements and have identified that around USD 20 Million in crypto assets are being exited into fiat currencies per day.

This comes as investigators are struggling to locate the whereabouts of missing crypto assets that need to be reclaimed to pay back debtors, they haven’t been successful to date but with funds exiting daily there will be a long wait to regain these funds.

Ethereum Biggest Haul

Ethereum has been one of the core assets the hacker has been moving with 9,500 Ethereum being one of the first assets to be sent to the mixer to hide transactions. While losing USD 100 Million to having accounts frozen and fees due to transactions the hacker was able to sell USD 70 Million and withdraw into traditional cash.

Around USD 54 Million worth of Bitcoin was also being tracked but the trail has gone cold as the funds have been dispersed and sitting idle in undisclosed accounts. However, the findings from Elliptic have identified Russian backed accounts that are transferring the tokens which may indicate that a Russian broker is being used to trade the funds.

Russia’s involvement in the FTX accounts is unknown and the person claiming the funds is still yet to be identified however, the transfers and withdraw into fiat currencies commenced the moment the world was fixated on the FTX case.

The case is expected to take six weeks and there is already strong evidence emerging that Sam Bankman-Fried directed staff to undertake criminal activity. What was once one of the biggest names in the Crypto world has now crumbled to ashes as Sam Bankman-Fried awaits to hear his trial unfold.

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Solana is raised in FTX Case

Solana was one of Sam Bankman-Fried’s tokens of choice and frequently promoted on FTX and traded, much of the tokens success can probably be attributed to it’s promotion by the now defunked Centralised Exchange (CEX) having gone into a ever cascading dip as the token continues to be mentioned throughout the FTX case.

Sam went all in with Solana establishing wallets and supporting the token as it became on the FTX’s largest holdings which could be why much of the market is currently in caution as liquidators are looking to sell off FTX assets to claw back funds. Solana being one of the exchanges largest holdings puts the token and people who invested in it at significant risk should liquidators commence selling Solana.

The market has reacted by increased open orders and selling the token on the open market to avoid the potential threat of mass sales from FTX liquidators. The token has already seen sharp declines in values and has continued to fall over the past week. While the token is currently sitting tight in 7th space Cardano is quickly moving up and Solana may slip more still.

Wrap Up

While 2023 has turned into a devastating year for Crypto due to the ongoing legal battles and collapse of one of the largest Crypto Brands to date it is still sitting a lot better than the initial 2022 collapse which saw Bitcoin succumb to some pretty devastating falls.

The times are currently turbulent but as previously reported many of the Crypto investors who lost fortunes in the FTX collapse are back at it investing more funds into the sector in the hope of a full return and recover much of their lost funds.

While we don’t know who is behind the “hacked” FTX wallets and token sales people are speculating that it is someone with FTX insider knowledge or who had knowledge of account passwords. The world is watching Sam and his team closely to see if it is/was one of them. In time, the world will know.

Image sources provided supplemented by Canva Pro subscription. This is not financial advice and readers are advised to undertake their own research or seek professional financial services.

Posted Using InLeo Alpha