Bitget Hacker Moves $3.8M to Zcash Privacy Pool After Near Blocks Swaps
The Bitget hacker moved $3.8 million in stolen Zcash to a privacy pool after Near blocked $50 million in swaps. This move makes the funds harder to trace, complicating recovery efforts. The hacker has been using various methods to launder the stolen $387.5 million.
Key takeaways
- The Bitget hacker moved $3.8M in stolen Zcash to Zcash's Ironwood privacy pool.
- Near Intents blocked $50M in swaps, pushing the hacker to use privacy tools.
- Bitget customers withdrew over 4,000 bitcoins in one hour after withdrawals resumed.
The hacker behind the $387.5 million Bitget heist has started hiding about $3.8 million in Zcash (ZEC) inside Zcash's Ironwood privacy pool. This move comes after Near Intents blocked over $50 million in attempted swaps from the hacker's addresses. The funds were later moved to other swap services, highlighting the challenges of tracking and freezing stolen crypto assets.
Why the Hacker Chose Zcash
The hacker's decision to move funds into Zcash's Ironwood pool makes the funds much harder to trace. Zcash's privacy features allow transactions to be shielded, obscuring the origin, amount, and destination of the funds. This move follows similar actions where the hacker has used various methods to launder the stolen funds, including converting $6 million in ETH to BTC as previously reported.
What This Means for Recovery Efforts
The use of privacy pools like Zcash's Ironwood complicates efforts to recover the stolen funds. Law enforcement and exchange platforms rely on tracking the movement of funds to freeze and recover stolen assets. However, privacy-focused technologies make this process significantly more difficult. Bitget has been working to resume customer withdrawals, but the hacker's actions highlight the ongoing challenges in securing and recovering stolen crypto assets.
What to Watch Next
If you hold Zcash or are involved in crypto transactions, be aware of the increased use of privacy pools by hackers. This trend could lead to more stringent regulations and monitoring of privacy-focused cryptocurrencies. Additionally, keep an eye on how exchanges like Bitget respond to such incidents and what measures they implement to protect user funds in the future.
Frequently asked questions
What is Zcash's Ironwood pool?
Zcash's Ironwood pool is a shielded privacy pool that uses zero-knowledge proofs to obscure transaction details like sender, recipient, and amount, making funds nearly impossible to trace on-chain.
How does this move affect recovery of the stolen funds?
The use of Zcash's privacy pool makes it extremely difficult for law enforcement and exchanges to trace and freeze the stolen funds, significantly reducing the chances of recovery.
What other methods has the Bitget hacker used to launder funds?
The hacker previously converted $6 million in ETH to BTC via THORChain after Bitget's request to block those addresses was rejected, and has moved funds through multiple swap services.
How did Bitget customers react to the hack?
Within one hour of Bitget resuming withdrawals, customers withdrew over 4,000 bitcoins, indicating a significant loss of confidence in the exchange following the $387.5 million theft.