Binance hackers suddenly move $8 million worth of stolen Bitcoin

Story by: David Canellis

More than $8 million worth of Bitcoin $BTC▲4.72% stolen from cryptocurrency exchange Binance has suddenly moved.

Earlier today, a combined 707.1 BTC was sent from one of the hacker‘s Bitcoin wallets to a separate pair of addresses.

The two transfers, for 706.1 BTC ($8 million) and 1 BTC ($11,384) respectively, were detected by Twitter-based transaction monitor @whale_alert.

In May, Binance (one of the world’s most prominent cryptocurrency exchanges) suffered a sophisticated cyberattack that saw hackers make away with 7,000 BTC (then, $40M; now, $83.5M) in a single transaction.

In response, Binance CEO Changpang Zhao publicly floated the idea of rolling back the Bitcoin blockchain to reverse the attack.

The plan, however ill-advised, would’ve consisted of recruiting a majority of the Bitcoin network to work in unison against the hackers, a plot similar (in effect) to a “51-percent attack.”

Zhao abandoned the idea shortly after announcing it.

Since the attack, the stolen 7,000 BTC has stayed put, albeit after the hackers split their loot across seven separate Bitcoin addresses, as detected by blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis.

But with 10 percent of the stolen funds now shifted, all eyes are on the Bitcoin addresses of cryptocurrency exchanges across the internet — as the hackers are likely hunting an avenue to launder (and cash out) their digital loot.

Original story: https://thenextweb.com/hardfork/2019/07/08/binance-hack-8-million-bitcoin-cryptocurrency-stolen-transfer/

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