FTX Hacker Dumps ETH On Markets, Price Plummets

Users affected by the FTX collapse now have another major problem to deal with, as it emerged the hacker responsible for the subsequent hack has begun manipulating the price of ETH. 

As a result of the hacker dumping ETH on the market, the price of the asset fell by over 7% in just a few hours. 

Hacker Moving Funds 

The hacker behind the attack on the FTX exchange has started offloading millions of dollars worth of ETH, resulting in a dramatic drop in the price of the cryptocurrency. The hacker had gotten away with nearly $300 million worth of crypto and, at the time of writing, was the 35th largest holder of ETH in the world. Chainalysis broke the news of the stolen funds being on the move again and urged exchanges to be alert in case the hacker tried to cash out. 

“Funds stolen from FTX are on the move, and exchanges should be on high alert to freeze them if the hacker attempts to cash out.” 

On Sunday, the hacker moved 50,000 ETH, worth over $59 million, to a new address. The receiving address swapped the ETH for renBTC, a type of BTC that can run on the Ethereum blockchain. After this, the address made separate transfers totaling around $59 million, according to data from Etherscan. According to on-chain researcher ZachXBT, the hacker is using the Ren Bridge to move the renBTC to the Bitcoin blockchain. This is the latest development stemming from the fallout of the FTX exchange that has gripped the cryptocurrency markets. 

ETH Plummets 

With the hacker dumping ETH on the market, the cryptocurrency price dropped by nearly 3% in the past 24 hours. On the other hand, Bitcoin was down only by 0.6%. Currently, the price of ETH is down by 3.09%, with the asset trading at $1099. According to available data, the hacker still possesses around 200,735 ETH, worth nearly $236 million at current prices. The hacker’s wallet was first identified by crypto sleuth ZachXBT on the 11th of November. 

FTX Issues Statement 

FTX issued a statement urging cryptocurrency exchanges to be on high alert and secure any funds they can, which can be traced back to the hacker. Any funds recovered could be used in the bankruptcy proceedings. FTX tweeted, 

“Exchanges should be aware that certain funds transferred from FTX Global and related debtors without authorization on 11/11/22 are being transferred to them through intermediate wallets. Exchanges should take all measures to secure these funds to be returned to the bankruptcy estate.”

The trades in question came after the hacker sold a host of crypto assets, such as the DAI stablecoin, Synthetix’s SNX, Aave’s AAVE, LINK, and several other assets for ETH on the CowSwap exchange. The largest of these trades was a $48 million swap of DAI for ETH. 

The Securities and Exchange Commission of the Bahamas also issued a statement on the 12th of November, stating that it was facilitating the withdrawal of Bahamian funds. This led to significant speculation that the flow of funds from FTX on the 11th of November was the handiwork of the Securities and Exchange Commission of the Bahamas. However, this was refuted by ZachXBT, who tweeted, 

“The first clue that 0x59 was a blackhat and neither Bahamian officials nor FTX team was when 0x59 began selling tokens for ETH, DAI, and BNB and using a variety of bridges so crypto couldn’t be frozen on 11/12.”

Ethereum Users Appeal For Help 

Some Ethereum users have started sending coded messages to the hacker, asking for a share of the stolen funds. One user appealed to the hacker, stating they had lost a significant sum due to the FTX collapse, asking the hacker to reimburse them. The user in question sent multiple small transactions to the hacker’s address in an attempt to catch their attention. Several other Ethereum users tried the same trick to get the hacker’s attention. Whether they were successful or not remains to be seen. 

Disclaimer: This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.