U.Today - According to a recent tweet posted by @PeckShieldAlert crypto analytics account, the fifth largest address may be controlled by an entity that is believed not to favor the world's premier digital currency much.
Here's who controls $2.46 billion in Bitcoin
@PeckShieldAlert tweeted that the aforementioned wallet is controlled by the U.S. government, and it currently holds a whopping 94,643 BTC worth approximately $2.46 billion.This Bitcoin was seized by hackers who attacked the Bitfinex exchange in the summer of 2016.
A married couple — Ilya Lichtenstein and Heather Morgan — and scooping up almost 120,000 Bitcoins from it in August 2016. Now, this amount of BTC is worth more than $4.5 billion. Back in 2016, all these Bitcoins cost $71 million.
Hackers moving hundreds of millions of USD in BTC before their arrest
They were taken into custody in New York last year after the police managed to trace their wealth back to the crypto hack of the aforementioned major exchange.Before their arrest, in February 2022, they and these transfers did not escape the attention of Whale Alert crypto tracker; two 10,000 BTC lumps were moved, each worth more than $383 million.
Back in April 2021, the hackers transferred a similar amount of funds and had been, overall, moving small portions of the stolen BTC since 2016, trying to be careful and not expose themselves.
In 2020, Bitfinex even offered a deal with a $400 million reward to those who could help it hunt down the exploiters and return the stolen Bitcoins to the platform. That was not successful, however.