'Small Possibility' $8.6B Bitcoin Transfer Was Due to Hack: Coinbase Exec
Conor Grogan, the head of product at Coinbase, has raised a slim possibility that a recent $8.6 billion Bitcoin transfer may have been orchestrated by hackers.
Grogan made this assertion in an X post on Friday, after noticing suspicious activity involving eight wallets that had held Bitcoin for over 14 years. If his speculation proves true, it would be the largest heist in human history.
A Slight Chance of a Hack
"There is a small possibility that the $8B in BTC that recently woke up were hacked or compromised private keys," Grogan said, pointing to a suspicious Bitcoin Cash (BCH) transaction made before the significant transfers on Thursday.
"I found a single BCH test transaction from one of the BTC whale clusters 14 hours ago, followed by the full amount. An hour later, the BTC wallets began to move," he explained. Grogan believes that the wallet owner may have been quietly testing their private key, as Bitcoin Cash transactions don't attract the same level of attention from whale tracking services.
"However, I found the behavior unusual," Grogan noted, suggesting that there is more to this incident than meets the eye.
The Mysterious Move
Blockchain intelligence firm Arkham reported that a single entity moved $8.6 billion worth of Bitcoin from eight separate wallets. The transferred Bitcoin had been stored in those wallets since April 2 or May 4, 2011, and remained untouched for over 14 years.
The New Landscape
"The Bitcoin is now sitting in eight new wallets and hasn't been moved since," Arkham stated. Despite the uncertainty surrounding this incident, Bitcoin's price has stayed relatively stable, dipping 1.02% in the last 24 hours to trade at $108,150, according to CoinMarketCap data.
As the cryptocurrency market continues to evolve, it is essential to remain vigilant and monitor suspicious activity closely. The implications of this incident could be far-reaching, and only time will tell if Grogan's speculation proves correct.