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United States Government Wallet Reportedly Hacked! $20 Million in Crypto Stolen

By Dalmas Ngetich

Last Updated: Oct 25, 2024

Fact checked

By Sam Cooling

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Disclaimer

Crypto is a high-risk asset class. This article is provided for informational purposes and does not constitute investment advice. You could lose all of your capital.
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United States Hack: US government Bitcoin reportedly hacked as over $20m of crypto suspiciously moved in US government crypto wallet hit job.
Disclaimer Icon
Disclaimer

Crypto is a high-risk asset class. This article is provided for informational purposes and does not constitute investment advice. You could lose all of your capital.
99Bitcoins may receive advertising commissions for visits to a suggested operator through our affiliate links, at no added cost to you. All our recommendations follow a thorough review process.

United States Hack rips through self-custody security, US government Bitcoin has been reportedly hacked as over $20m of crypto suspiciously moved in US government crypto wallet hit job.

Crypto has had a hacker problem for years. It all has to do with what Bitcoin, Ethereum, and all other coins offer: Control, freedom, and ownership.

Every movement is public, and users can make costly mistakes.

Despite the United States’ strong judicial system and years of actively pursuing hackers, crypto scammers, and other malicious actors, one of its wallets seems to be under threat.

There has been no confirmation that the mighty United States—read the FBI, DoJ, and all other well-oiled agencies—has indeed lost money, and a lot in this case.

United States Government Hacked For $20 Million?

However, Arkham data shows that over $20 million of crypto has been suspiciously moved and likely laundered.

If this is true, it would be an egg on the face for the government, especially its agencies like the FBI.

According to the blockchain intelligence firm, the transfer originated from the address “0x3486.”

Image

(Source)

At press time, it cannot be independently confirmed whether an individual or an organization controls the source address.

What is known is that the address moved $20 million of multiple assets, including USDC, USDT, aUSDC (interest-bearing USDC on Aave—a lending platform), and ETH, from the government-controlled wallet “0xc9E6E5” in the past 24 hours.

United States Hack: US government Bitcoin reportedly hacked as over $20m of crypto suspiciously moved in US government crypto wallet hit job.

(Source)

To break it down, the suspected hacker moved over $13 million worth of aUSDC. The address also moved $5.45 million USDC, $1.1 million USDT, and over $446,000 of ETH.

The Laundering Of US Government Crypto Holdings

The receiving address has been very active since the transfer.

Top conversions include shuffling USDC to ETH via 1Inch, an aggregating DEX.

Afterward, the ETH was split into $40,000 blocks. Most were moved to a “nested exchange” that sources liquidity from Binance. Another $80,000 of ETH has been transferred to multiple wallets.

Image

(Source)

Interestingly, the hacker’s wallet holds over $13 million of USDC and small amounts of BNB, ETH, and other tokens.

United States Hack: US government Bitcoin reportedly hacked as over $20m of crypto suspiciously moved in US government crypto wallet hit job.

(Source)

On the other hand, the United States government is a Bitcoin whale. It controls over $13.7 billion of Bitcoin and more than $120 million of ETH.

(Source)

Looking at on-chain transfers, the United States government wallet last initiated large transactions five months ago. Then, it received $2 million from Shakeeb Ahmed, a former Amazon security engineer.

Bitfinex Hack: How a Couple Stole $4.5Bn

These coins were seized from  Ilya Lichtenstein and Heather Morgan. They are a couple from New York City who pleaded guilty to  hacking and laundering more than 120,000 BTC from Bitfinex.

 

Authorities recovered more than 108,000 BTC of the stolen stash following a thorough multi-year investigation by the FBI, HSI, and other agencies.

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Dalmas Ngetich
Dalmas Ngetich
Crypto Journalist

Dalmas is an experienced journalist with over a decade in crypto, technology, and blockchain. His work and that of his partners have been featured in top news outlets, including Forbes, investing.com, and Entrepreneur, among others. He is passionate about crypto... Read More

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