Topic: WSJ: How the Feds Tracked Hacked Bitfinex Funds (Read 290 times)

This makes it possible that the real hackers also hold the private keys for the wallet or the authorities do not really have the private keys for the wallet.

but the main lot the ~95k[Wallet 1CGA4] never went through an exchange not cashed out by the pair, nor seized in 2017-21.
but instead seized in 2022

I do actually have the same thoughts that these couple arent the masterminds but rather just some cover ups on the said crime.It is really just impossible to think that hackers wouldnt really
be erasing their tracks that could possibly expose their identity which they are fully aware of that and its just dumb that they would be making out actions without considering that those
addresses were heavily monitored and im bit sure  that they are fully aware of that but this situation a little bit giving questions on my mind.

Does this mean that there won't be as many fresh NFT mints shooting up 100x before crashing miserably while some get rich and others are left holding the bag?  The funny thing is, I bet they were actually making a fortune doing this.  They probably went from thinking about how they'd launder their billions to wondering why everyone isn't rich since it's so easy to pump and dump.  

Has anyone discovered their opensea profile yet (I'm sure they probably had hundreds).  It would be very fascinating to see their transaction history and see if they really were making a fortune flipping NFTs while trying to launder their funds.  Would surprise me at all...

I am inclined to think that they are just part of the hacking group, perhaps scapegoats or those who collect initial info but not mainly the brains behind the actual hack. They are so fond of social media, and they have done things that could obviously put their identities in peril, and normally those who do some hacking do not engage in these kinds of activities.

The true hackers are still yet to be jailed, I believe. These two doesn't seem to be the masterminds of the heist from their most recent activities.

"Mr. Lichtenstein and Ms. Morgan allegedly exchanged some of the bitcoin into other cryptocurrencies, according to the complaint, cashed some out via bitcoin ATMs and used the stolen funds to purchase nonfungible tokens, or NFTs. These digital collectibles have lately become another way crypto thieves launder digital money, the U.S. Treasury Department said last week in a report."

Have the authorities recovered any funds or is it just tracking and arresting some people?

Between January 31, 2022, and February 1, 2022, law enforcement obtained approval to execute a lawful seizure
supported by probable cause under exigent circumstances and used the private keys from
LICHTENSTEIN’s file to seize Wallet 1CGA4’s remaining balance of approximately 94,636
BTC, worth $3.629 billion

The thing is, the moment when Crypto currencies touch centralized Fiat services that adhere to KYC reguirements.... ALL pseudo-anonymity is gone. They used Crypto exchanges that has to report to law enforcement agencies and that is why their real identities were exposed.

It would be interesting to know but I don't think they will ever reveal it if they had been able to trace any bitcoins that went through a mixer. Imagine if one of the centralized mixers was a honeypot, if they said anything about it that service dies right away because nobody would ever use it again.

It does not say if these coins were pushed through Mixer services, because that would have been interesting to see if they can still trace it, once it goes through Mixer services. (Also which Mixer service was used)

It does not say if these coins were pushed through Mixer services, because that would have been interesting to see if they can still trace it, once it goes through Mixer services. (Also which Mixer service was used)

@franky1. Do you trust this official press release to be the real story? I reckon real hackers and moneylaunderers who have control to more than $3 billion in bitcoin might be more careful and smarter. The skeptical me is beginning to think that those people in social media who speculate that they are only scapegoats might be correct. Would it be shocking if the hackers was a group commisioned by a corrupt government intelligence agency?

@franky1. Do you trust this official press release to be the real story? I reckon real hackers and moneylaunderers who have control to more than $3 billion in bitcoin might be more careful and smarter. The skeptical me is beginning to think that those people in social media who speculate that they are only scapegoats might be correct. Would it be shocking if the hackers was a group commisioned by a corrupt government intelligence agency?

On or about May 3, 2020, Cluster 36B6mu sent approximately 0.057 BTC directly
to VCE 10. VCE 10 is a business that sells prepaid gift cards in exchange for BTC. Records from
VCE 10 showed that this specific transaction was for the purchase of a $500 gift card to Walmart
from an account registered with an email address hosted by a provider in Russia and conducted
via an IP address resolving to a New York City-based cloud service provider (“Cloud Provider
1”). Records from Cloud Provider 1 showed that the IP address was leased by an account in the
name of LICHTENSTEIN and tied to Lichtenstein Email 1.

Lichtenstein Email 2 was held at a U.S.-based provider that offered email as well
as cloud storage services, among other products. In 2021, agents obtained a copy of the contents
of the cloud storage account pursuant to a search warrant. Upon reviewing the contents of the
account, agents confirmed that the account was used by LICHTENSTEIN. However, a significant
portion of the files were encrypted.

On or about January 31, 2022, law enforcement was able to decrypt several key
files contained within the account. Most notably, the account contained a file listing all of the
addresses within Wallet 1CGA4s and their corresponding private keys. Using this information,
law enforcement seized the remaining contents of the wallet, totaling approximately 94,636 BTC,
presently worth $3.629 billion,

I have read different interpretations of the story. There were some people in social media that were saying they were the hackers and there are also some people that were saying that they were only the moneylaunderers for the hackers. However, much of those who said that they were accused as the hackers were also saying that they cannot be the real hackers. They speculated that they were only scapegoats. This is head shaking after watching their Tiktok videos.

It also appears Heather Morgan who is one of the accused was a Forbes contributor. This article was written by her hehehe.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/heathermorgan/2020/06/18/protect-your-business-from-cybercriminals/