FTX hacker is using ChipMixer which might have ties with the government
The FTX attacker has begun utilizing ChipMixer to launder the money, around 360 BTC thus far, according to ZachXBT on Twitter.
“ChipMixer has ties to the US government”
On November 12, FTX US and FTX experienced several suspicious withdrawals, which caused the total amount of money withdrawn to exceed $450 million. On November 20, assets were consolidated in 0x59 on the mainnet using various bridges, such as Celer or Stargate. On November 21, the hacker transferred more assets from 0x59 in 12 transactions totaling 15k ETH.
On Twitter, FatMan, one of the investigators of the Terra ecosystem collapse, revealed details about the ChipMixer project and its supposed involvement with the US government. He stated that it was created to crack bitcoin privacy and deanonymize transactions. In addition, he also noted that the authorities were accessing information about the digital currency sector on the Internet.
After looking into the project’s history, FatMan learned that the organization that funds it doesn’t care about profitability. He noted that the project has enough money to make it a popular service and can spend millions of dollars on it.
The authorities reportedly started investigating the project due to the emergence of real-name anonymity built into it. FatMan noted that there was no way for them to subpoena the private information of the platform users.
Although ChipMixer provides users with external anonymity, it’s different from other services because it allows the operator to access every transaction, he noted. Despite the existence of privacy technology, this model still allows the owner full access to the data collected by the platform, FatMan added.
ChipMixer is common with hackers
Highly skilled hackers, such as those responsible for the recent attacks on Binance and the Ronin Bridge, used the ChipMixer tool. According to FatMan, authorities apprehended some of these individuals.
Meanwhile, several large similar platforms have closed for various reasons, such as unprofitability or lawsuits. Tornado Cash, on the other hand, has been sanctioned. Despite this, ChipMixer is still running smoothly.
Due to its ties with the US government, FatMan was suspicious about using ChipMixer. He referred to it as a secret weapon that could be used whenever necessary.
Bailing out FTX
Binance, led by billionaire Changpeng Zhao, recently announced that it would provide up to $2 billion in financial support to help crypto firms affected by the bankruptcy of FTX.
In a statement, Binance said it would establish a recovery fund that could provide up to $2 billion in financial support to affected crypto firms. It noted that it would begin to ramp up the fund’s size in the near future. Aside from Animoca Brands, a Hong Kong-based firm focusing on the digital-asset industry, other investors also contributed to the fund.
