A criminal investigation has been launched into the whereabouts of $372 million of FTX funds by the United States Department of Justice.
Between Nov. 11 and the early hours of Nov. 12, massive outflows of cryptocurrencies began moving out of FTX and FTX US’s wallets. Multiple FTX employees told Twitter sleuth ZachXBT that they didn’t recognize the transfers.
The probe is independent of the fraud case against FTX co-founder Sam Bankman-Fried.
According to a person familiar with the case, it has not yet been determined whether it was an inside job or the work of hackers.
Over an hour after the suspected hack began, FTX General Counsel Ryne Miller tweeted that his company was “investigating abnormalities with wallet movements” and later pinned a message in FTX’s official Telegram support channel: “FTX has been hacked. FTX apps are malware. Delete them. Chat is open. Don’t go on FTX site as it might download Trojans.”
The investigation is being run by the National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team, which was established last year to focus on cyber crime and illicit cryptocurrency activities.
Blockchain experts have pointed to several clues that the hacker was an FTX insider, including the simultaneous hacks of the FTX and FTX US websites, the suspect’s access to multiple cold wallets and the use of a personal Kraken account to withdraw gas fees for at least one transaction.
SBF faces eight counts of conspiracy and criminal activity related to wire fraud, commodities fraud, securities fraud, money laundering, and violation of campaign finance laws.
