Last week, a wallet linked to the US government experienced a security incident resulting in the loss of over $20 million in cryptocurrencies. However, within 24 hours, more than 88% of the stolen funds, approximately $19.3 million, were recovered thanks to a swift response from authorities and the intervention of specialized companies like Arkham.
The US government recovers its stolen funds in a flash
According to information shared by Arkham, a company specializing in crypto data analysis, $19.3 million was recovered the day after the incident. The wallet, associated with US authorities, initially contained a combination of stablecoins and ETH, including $14 million in AUSDC, $5.4 million in USDC, $1.1 million in USDT, and around $500,000 in ETH.
This rapid recovery demonstrates remarkable responsiveness in the context of financial cybersecurity, especially when digital funds are at stake. As the stolen cryptocurrencies were on the move for the first time in over eight months, Arkham and other crypto analysts, including ZachXBT, quickly identified attempts at money laundering through non-custodial applications, a common method for hiding the origin of funds in the crypto ecosystem.
A return to the source: connection with the 2016 Bitfinex hack
The recent attack takes on a particularly intriguing turn due to its connection with the historic 2016 Bitfinex hack, which resulted in the loss of nearly 120,000 BTC and remains etched in the memories of the crypto community. According to sources, the recently stolen funds were from government seizures linked to the assets stolen in that case, once again highlighting the persistent links between historical hacks and current operations.
