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Bitfinex hack of 2016 was one of the earliest and biggest ones in the crypto space. Hackers took away 119,756 Bitcoins, which is equal to about $1 billion. Even after repeated efforts, the exchange hasn’t managed to recover any of the funds, other than the 27 BTCs recovered in February this year.
However, as per reports on Friday, 170 BTCs, worth about $1.3 million, have been moved to a new address, as the hackers finally decide to siphon the stolen funds. Earlier this year in April, 550 BTCs were shifted to new addresses. In the white paper of the exchange’s native token LEO, Bitfinex had mentioned that it would negotiate a compromise with the hackers, allowing them to keep a few Bitcoins if they return back the rest.
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The talks never worked out, and the hackers are taking cautious efforts to move the stolen funds as soon as possible. The exchange’s marketing director Anneka Dew stated that the fund movement recorded on Friday is nowhere connected to the negotiations their team is engaged in.
Hack on the crypto exchange is one of the biggest problems of the crypto space, which has grown over the years, instead of coming down. According to recent reports, over $1.2 billion worth crypto value was lost to scammers in the first quarter of 2019 alone. Despite sophisticated security measures, hackers keep finding some of the other ways to get into the platform, taking away millions at a time. The recent hack on Binance Exchange which touted to be the most secure crypto exchange shocked the crypto space.
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Hackers moving their funds to new addresses is extremely bad news for the hacked users and platforms. This could mean that the stolen funds are permanently lost, scaring general investors from investing crypto, especially at a time when regulators worldwide are cracking down the industry.
