Wallet Linked to 2014 BTC Hack ‘Wakes Up,’ Transfers A Massive $165M

Hacker Walking Away With Bitcoin
Hacker Walking Away With Bitcoin
Hacker Walking Away With Bitcoin

A crypto wallet linked to the 2014 Mt. Gox hack returned to life on Thursday and sent a total of 10.000 BTC (US$ 165 million) to two unidentified recipients. It was the largest BTC transaction since August 2017.

As part of the transaction, a wallet received 3.500 BTC and sent 300 BTC to another location. The money was subsequently divided and got distributed in a variety of different wallets unrelated to any known custodial service.

Furthermore, it is still unclear if the owner of these wallets withdrew the money, or kept it in these wallets.

Mt. Gox was one of the market’s first cryptocurrency exchanges. In 2014, the exchange suffered a major hacking attack worth 744.408 BTC.

At the time, the exchange could not recover the lost funds and ultimately declared bankruptcy.

During the same period, Alexander Vinnik was the man in charge of operating a smaller exchange known as BTC-e.

Theories go about these allegedly laundered funds being from Mt. Gox’s hack – but so far it is impossible to confirm.

Alexander Vinnik Mishappenings With The Law

Since 2017, Vinnik faced a series of extraditions and arrest warrants under his name. The Russian-born developer collects extradition requests from countries like Greece, America, Russia, and France under his name.

Initially, an arrest warrant in Greece, under money laundering claims by request of the United States government.

Not only did Vinnik deny accusations, but he also came went through a hunger strike in protest.

In June 2020, New Zealand Police reported the seizure of $90 million from WME Capital Management, a Vinnik-registered firm in New Zealand.

In December 2020, Vinnik was sentenced to 5 years in prison for money laundering.

This year Vinnik’s lawyer claimed that his client had to be extradited from America to Russia, due to health issues related to being in solitary confinement in American prisons.

Wallet Linked To BTC-e

According to blockchain analysis firm Crystal Blockchain, the dormant wallet that transferred millions in BTC is linked to Vinnik’s former exchange.

Originally, the transfer caught the eye of Russian investor, Sergey Mendeleev, who posted his findings on a Telegram channel.

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