The hacker who exploited the FTX exchange last week made a sizeable fortune that has propelled it to Ether (ETH) whale status.
Just one day after beleaguered exchange FTX filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, more than $663 million worth of various crypto assets disappeared from its wallets, according to blockchain intelligence firm Elliptic.
Elliptic suspects that USD 477 million was stolen; A large portion of those tokens are thought to have been converted to ETH, while $186 million is believed to have been spent on over a hundred different tokens and moved to secure storage by FTX itself.
As Cointelegraph reported on Nov. 15, the attacker draining wallets four days later, leading analysts to call it “on-chain spoofing.”
According to blockchain security company Beosin, the attacker conducted multiple trades and cross-chain operations over the past day, and currently has around $338 million in crypto assets as of November 15.
FTX Accounts Drainer (0x59AB…32b) has conducted multiple swap and cross-chain operations for the past day and currently holds ~$338,598,702 of assets.
The majority of the funds are held in the
0x59ABf3837Fa962d6853b4Cc0a19513AA031fd32b address.Current balance: pic.twitter.com/SMrkbcwULL
— Beosin Alert (@BeosinAlert) November 15, 2022
FTX Accounts Drainer (0x59AB…32b) has conducted multiple swap and cross-chain trades over the past day and currently holds ~$338,598,702 of assets. Most of the funds are located at the address: 0x59ABf3837Fa962d6853b4Cc0a19513AA031fd32b. Current balance:
This includes 228,523 ETH, according to the wallet address, which is worth about $288.8 million. at current market prices.
This makes the account nicknamed “FTX Accounts Drainer” the 35th largest holder of Ether. in terms of number of ETH.
According to CoinCarp’s Ethereum rich list, the main holder is the Beacon Chain escrow contract, which contains around 15 million ETH. Also, most of those in the top 20 are crypto exchanges, layer 2 protocols, and decentralized finance (DeFi) bridges.
The top 20 ETH wallets hold 27.7% of all circulating supply and the top 50 hold a third of all ETH.
The exploits occurred on both FTX and FTX.US, leading many to speculate that it could have been an inside job. Hugh Brooks, director of security operations at analytics firm Certik, cited on-chain tests that suggest so.. He told Cointelegraph on Nov. 15 that unless a private key was compromised, it cannot be ruled out that someone with access to these wallets moved the funds.
Ether prices have not been affected due to the possible discharge of its 35th largest holder that floods the markets.
At the time of writing, ETH was trading unchanged on the day at $1,260, according to CoinGecko. The asset has lost around 23% since the FTX debacle began.
Clarification: The information and/or opinions expressed in this article do not necessarily represent the views or editorial line of Cointelegraph. The information presented here should not be taken as financial advice or investment recommendation. All investment and commercial movement involve risks and it is the responsibility of each person to do their due research before making an investment decision.
Keep reading:
Investments in crypto assets are not regulated. They may not be suitable for retail investors and the entire amount invested may be lost. The services or products offered are not directed or accessible to investors in Spain.