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Binance Hackers Swap About $50 Million of Stolen XRP Mostly Into Bitcoin, Elliptic Says
About 42 million stolen XRP, worth roughly $50 million, has been swapped mostly into bitcoin via THORChain, Elliptic said, lifting converted bitcoin from the Binance theft to about 1,650 BTC.
Brief
Analytics company Elliptic reports that people behind the record Binance theft have begun exchanging a portion of the stolen XRP for bitcoin, with roughly 42 million tokens, around $50 million, already converted, largely via THORChain. According to its update covering activity through Friday, bitcoin derived from other stolen assets rose sharply within a single night to about 1,650 BTC, valued near $124 million, and most of that growth traces back to the XRP swaps. Approximately 192 million XRP, valued near $226 million, is still held in addresses tied to the theft. The drained funds were taken on October 29, an amount Binance later placed at $6.34 billion. The FBI has linked the campaign to North Korea's TraderTraitor group. Elliptic also noted that the largest bitcoin and ether reserves from the attack have not yet moved.
Why it matters: Bitcoin is harder for issuers to freeze than many stablecoins, so moving stolen funds into it shapes how the laundering trail develops.
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