$20 Million Stolen from US Government’s Crypto Wallets by Alleged Hackers

Arkham Intelligence, a company monitoring suspicious asset movements in government-linked wallets, first noted the breach. Crypto investigator ZachXBT confirmed the suspicion, revealing that the stolen funds flowed quickly into instant exchanges, likely for laundering. The assets include USDC, USDT, aUSDC, and ETH.

The United States has one of the biggest crypto portfolios in the world, mostly from seizures of assets from criminal activities. Government sell-offs of those assets have previously spooked crypto markets, which might be a volatility source.

This theft has cast new doubt on the security of government-held crypto assets. Arkham stated that the funds involved are directly tied to Bitfinex’s seized assets. This further complicates efforts to restore these funds to affected users. In recent months, the government had initiated a restitution process for those defrauded by the 2016 hack. However, the recent incident could impact this plan.

Currently, the US government has not released details about the breach or the potential vulnerability that allowed it. The identities of the attackers remain unknown, leaving the crypto community and government agencies on high alert.