news.bitcoin.com
Two days prior, onchain analyst ZachXBT noted that the value of $XMR climbed following the theft of 3,520 $BTC from a single victim. By Wednesday, he suggested the wallet’s owner might be “an elderly individual in the U.S.”
3,520 $BTC Stolen From Elderly U.S. Citizen and Funneled Into $XMR
On Sunday, ZachXBT detailed that a stolen batch of 3,520 $BTC had been converted into monero ( $XMR), a cryptocurrency known for its focus on user privacy. In a new update shared Wednesday, ZachXBT added that the coins may have belonged to a much older American citizen.
“Update: It is confirmed to be a social engineering theft from an elderly individual in the U.S.,” the blockchain researcher wrote. The revelation swiftly caught the attention of users on X. “An elderly individual holding 3,520 $BTC? Damn,” one user commented. ZachXBT responded directly to the post and clarified:
Onchain- the $BTC originated from *interesting* sources so would be curious how they originally acquired it
Zcash founder Zooko Wilcox-O’Hearn joined the discussion with a somber reflection. “That’s so sad. Do you know how the attackers were able to target this individual? I figure Bitcoin’s pervasive transparency doesn’t help,” he wrote. ZachXBT offered a direct reply to Zooko’s comment. “Usually they find targets from private crypto related dbs (exchanges, services, etc),” the blockchain investigator explained.