In November 2022, FTX suffered a hack shortly after the global cryptocurrency empire declared bankruptcy, and its founder, Sam Bankman-Fried, resigned from his role as CEO.
Blockchain data reveals that around 2,500 ether (ETH), valued at over $4 million, linked to last year’s FTX exchange breach, began moving in the early hours of Saturday, September 30th. This ether had remained dormant for nearly a year. The funds were split into two portions and then further divided into smaller transactions, with 700 ETH transferred through the Thorchain Router and approximately 1,200 ETH moved through the privacy-focused tool Railgun. Another 550 ETH is held in an intermediate wallet. Railgun is a private wallet that allows users to store tokens and use them for decentralized financial services like lending and borrowing. These transactions are shielded, meaning the exact amount isn’t disclosed. On the other hand, Thorchain acts as a bridge enabling users to swap tokens across different blockchains. There’s still 12,500 ETH (worth approximately $21 million at current prices) in the initial wallet.
Accounts associated with FTX and FTX US were emptied on November 11, 2022, just hours after the company filed for bankruptcy and Sam Bankman-Fried resigned from the cryptocurrency empire he had been leading. The attacker made off with ether worth over $600 million at that time. In a since-deleted tweet, FTX’s General Counsel, Ryne Miller, stated that the exchange was taking “precautionary measures” to secure funds from other FTX wallets. John J. Ray III, the Chief Operating Officer and Chief Restructuring Officer of FTX Debtors, who handled FTX’s bankruptcy proceedings, later revealed that $323 million in various cryptocurrencies had been stolen from the international exchange, with an additional $90 million taken from their U.S.-based platform, according to reports.