Blockchain analysis firm tracks down a portion of BTC stolen via Twitter

The Twitter hack that took place around three days ago still remains one of the biggest topics of conversation in the world. Everyone wants to know who is responsible, how did this happen, and where did the stolen money go.

Furthermore, due to high-profile individuals being hacked, the efforts to find the hackers have been increased even more.

Finally, some progress seems to have been made, at least, according to a report published by a blockchain analysis firm, Elliptic.

Elliptic found nearly a quarter of stolen Bitcoins

According to the firm’s report published yesterday, July 17th, the company seems to have uncovered a significant portion of stolen coins’ location. Around 22% of the funds believed to be obtained by the Twitter hacker or hackers were sent to an address believed to be tied to a Wasabi Wallet.

“Wasabi Wallet is a type of bitcoin wallet that can be used to hide transaction trails, making it difficult for law enforcement investigators or financial institutions to trace funds on the blockchain,” Elliptic noted.

Thanks to its unique capability to identify Wasabi Wallet’s addresses based on rather distinctive patterns, Elliptic believes that it managed to identify where at least a portion of the stolen coins ended up.

Other attempts to track the coins were unsuccessful, as they led to Bitcoin mixers.

This, for example, looks like a clear mixing attempt https://t.co/p4zl2FJBeP pic.twitter.com/ItNKZ1zmVX

— Larry Cermak (@lawmaster) July 17, 2020

Hackers will now look for ways to cash out the coins

The firm also added that the use of such a wallet is not surprising. Wasabi Wallet itself allows users to mix their coins and achieve greater anonymity. It does so by using a mechanism called CoinJoins.

Elliptic now believes that the hackers’ greatest focus lies in finding ways to cash out their coins, and that they are most likely to try and use one or more exchanges to do so.

“The challenge they face is when exchanges use blockchain monitoring tools such as Elliptic’s to scan the blockchain and determine the source of the funds for any bitcoin transaction they receive. If our software tells them that the funds originated from the Twitter attack, they are likely to freeze the funds and notify law enforcement,” the company added.