US DOJ investigates $372M FTX crypto hack

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The Department of Justice (DOJ) is reportedly investigating a crypto hack of FTX on November 11.

The DOJ has launched a criminal investigation into the alleged $372 million cybercrime that occurred hours after the crypto exchange declared bankruptcy on Nov. 11, Bloomberg reported Tuesday, Dec. 27.

US authorities managed to freeze a small portion of the assets with the help of platforms that cooperated with law enforcement and are now tracking both the hacker and the rest of the funds, according to the report.

The DOJ’s National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team is leading the investigation, according to the report.

The theft was reported by new FTX CEO John J. Ray III on November 12, the day after the company declared bankruptcy and the funds were stolen.

Blockchain data firm Chainalysis reported Nov. 20 that the funds were on the move and told exchanges to monitor any attempts by the hacker to cash out the stolen funds, according to the report.

As PYMNTS reported at the time, Chainalysis said on November 20 that it was in contact with partners across the ecosystem to track stolen funds and work to secure assets to be returned to depositors.

In an interview with PYMNTS published in August, Chainalysis head of research Kim Grauer said that it’s much easier to see what’s going on and track crime on public blockchains than with public blockchains. US dollars, as public blockchains instantly and immutably record every transaction.

The transparency of this dataset actually allows us to see how much crime is happening in real time, Grauer said at the time. Every transaction that occurs on the blockchain is available forever. He will always be there. And it’s devastating for criminals who don’t want the evidence of their crime preserved forever.

The FTX hack came about a month after Chainalysis reported that as of October 13, crypto hackers had stolen more than $3 billion in 125 hacks so far in 2022. The company said this put fraudsters on track for record annual tally to top 2021 total. hacked value.

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