--- title: "Someone’s Converting Millions of the Stolen FTX Funds Into Bitcoin" description: "Hackathon In the hours after the FTX cryptocurrency exchange filed for bankruptcy, opportunistic hackers took advantage of the chaos and began stealing hundreds of millions of dollars worth of crypto — and now, they're hard at work laundering it. As CNBC notes, the exchange's new CEO, John Ray III, admitted when the company filed for bankruptcy […]" date: "2022-11-23" modified: "2022-11-23" authors: - name: "Noor Al-Sibai" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/nooralsibai" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/stolen-ftx-hackers-bitcoin" categories: - "Bitcoin" - "Blockchain" - "Cryptocurrency" - "Future Society" tags: - "crypto" - "ftx" - "hackers" - "the digest" --- # Someone’s Converting Millions of the Stolen FTX Funds Into Bitcoin ![The hackers that stole hundreds of millions of dollars in crypto from the FTX exchange are now laundering that money into Bitcoin.]() *\Image: SOPA via Getty / Futurism\* ## Hackathon In the hours after the FTX cryptocurrency exchange filed for bankruptcy, opportunistic hackers — or [possibly an insider]() — took advantage of the chaos and [began looting]() hundreds of millions of dollars worth of crypto. Now, it appears, they're hard at work laundering it. As [*CNBC* reports](), the exchange's new CEO, John Ray III, admitted when the company filed for bankruptcy earlier in the month that "unauthorized access to certain assets has occurred." Soon after, the [Elliptic blockchain analytics firm estimated]() that a cool $447 million had been stolen during the cacophony. Indeed, it was the swift transfer of large sums of crypto into offline storage in what the firm called "[unauthorized transactions]()" that alerted FTX users to the potential for a crash, and as the financial broadcaster notes, those fears were confirmed once it became clear that the exchange had been infiltrated. The majority of the stolen crypto, some $280 million worth, was initially converted to ether, the currency on the Ethereum blockchain. Now, as Elliptic co-founder Tom Robinson tells *CNBC*, that ether is being converted to Bitcoin via a "bridge" currency that is used "in the laundering of crypto thefts." Thus far, about $74 million has been laundered into BTC. ## Whodunnit While there's no smoking gun yet about who's behind the hack that brought FTX down, the firm's disgraced founder, Sam Bankman-Fried, apparently had some ideas. Bankman-Fried seemed to implicate an unnamed and disgruntled "ex-employee" — or a compromised computer belonging to an ex-employee — in a [Twitter direct message conversation with a *Vox* reporter]() that took place in the days following the exchange's crash. This theory, as *CNBC* suggests, is lent some credibility by the [discovery of a bunch of transfers]() from a computer in the Bahamas, where SBF, his [sometimes-girlfriend Caroline Ellison](), and at least eight other people [lived, laughed, and loved](). Amid the messiness [related to the personalities]() in this outrageous saga, it's easy to forget the devastating financial aspect at its heart. The crash of FTX didn't just hurt [rich folks like Tom Brady]() — it also hurt lots of investors who were sold the concept that the 30-year-old SBF was some kind of crypto wunderkind who was going to save the industry. As with so much else in crypto world, it's clear that FTX's outsize reputation was all smoke and mirrors. Now, it seems that dust is finally starting to settle. **More on FTX:** [*Sam Bankman-Fried's Lawyers Quit Because of His "Incessant and Disruptive Tweeting"*]() ## Author At Futurism, I've often been drawn to unpacking the narratives that underlie technological, scientific and medical progress, with a special interest in areas of conflict and ambiguity that end up setting agendas and steering the fates of both elites and the hoi polloi. I'm a committed generalist, but I often find myself returning to work involving NASA and the private space sector, the effects of AI on media and society, and the mechanics of the pharmaceutical industry, with a specific focus on the spread of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy. Prior to Futurism, I worked for publications ranging from Media Matters and Truthdig to Raw Story and Bustle. I'm also the author of "Myspace Scene Queens," a 2024 title in Instar Books' acclaimed "Remember the Internet" series. My work at Futurism has been cited by outlets including the New Yorker, Slate, Nieman Lab, the Verge, the MIT Technology Review, the Sunday Times, and the Daily Beast. I grew up in North Carolina, attended the University of North Carolina at Asheville, and now live in Brooklyn, New York. In my free time, I'm an avid reader and music fan; you can probably find me at a local poetry reading, concert, underground rave, or DJ set. I'm the proud parent of an ineffable orange cat named Mee-Mow. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()