coinculture.com
FTX makes headlines again. Whoever was behind the $600 million crypto exchange FTX breach started converting ether (ETH) for Ren Bitcoin (renBTC) early on November 20.
#PeckShieldAlert FTX Accounts Drainer 0x866e…01a has swapped ~5k $ETH ($5,929,250.00) for 347 $renBTC ($5,798,697.17) pic.twitter.com/fLYC2oR4eV
— PeckShieldAlert (@PeckShieldAlert) November 20, 2022
Over the past week, FTX funds were gradually converted to ether, making the exploiter one of the token’s largest holders, as CoinDesk previously reported.
Some in the crypto community might be surprised by the use of renBTC: The trading arm owned by Sam Bankman-Fried, Alameda Research, said in 2021 that Ren’s development team was “joining” Alameda and would focus on extending Ren’s usage to several blockchains.
According to blockchain data, the hacker transferred over 5,000 ether to a new wallet at 7:27 UTC on Sunday. Then, 3 transactions totaling 35,000 more ether were made to that wallet.
Blockchain data reveals that the exploiter converted ether to renBTC across a number of transactions. The hacker changed ether to renBTC via the decentralised exchange aggregator 1inch, with 4,000 ether first changed into wrapped bitcoin (wBTC) and then into renBTC.
According to information supplied by the security company PeckShield, the exploiter sent thousands of renBTC out via the Ren bridge. Bridges are technologies built on the blockchain that let users trade tokens between other networks.
According to a study by blockchain analysis company Elliptic, the Ren bridge has reportedly been used to launder stolen money to the tune of at least $540 million.