Bitfinex Hacker Moves Around $7.5B Worth Of Stolen Bitcoin Amidst Coinbase Listing

Stolen funds from the 2016 Bitfinex hack were moved for the first time in five years, just as Coinbase was listed on the Nasdaq.

What Happened: Market participants were spooked by the large amounts of Bitcoin on the move, which likely contributed to the brief dip in the cryptocurrency’s price after the Coinbase listing.

WTF! $7.5 Billion In Stolen #Bitcoin from the 2016 Bitfinex Hack has just been moved for the first time in 5 years. pic.twitter.com/WJJ3smY8dc

— Mr. Whale (@CryptoWhale) April 14, 2021

“This isn’t the first time that the whale has moved them during a market rally to cause panic and likely cash in a short,” said Adam Cochran, a partner at Cinneamhain Ventures on Twitter.

Why It Matters: The stolen funds have been monitored and blacklisted, meaning that even if the hacker moves the funds around between wallet addresses, he cannot cash them out for fiat currency on any exchange.

In 2016, hackers stole close to 120,000 bitcoins, which would amount to $7.5 billion at today’s prices.

Last year, Bitfinex offered a reward of up to $400 million for the return of stolen Bitcoin, even to the hackers themselves if they were to return it.

See also: How to Buy Bitcoin (BTC)

“Those who put Bitfinex in contact with the hacker will receive 5% of the total property recovered (or equivalent funds or assets at current market values), and the hackers will receive 25% of the total property recovered (or equivalent funds or assets at current market values),” said the cryptocurrency exchange in a statement.

Price Action: Bitcoin recovered from its dip to $61,554 yesterday, to trade above $63,502 at the time of writing.