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What it is: A significant portion of the bitcoin denominated ransomware requested and received from the Colonial Pipeline operator has been recovered.
The how shows that bitcoin and other digital offerings, hailed by some (including some criminals and, presumably, DarkSide) as being virtually impossible to trace may not be as invisible as they thought. in the digital age, at least in this case, has turned out to be a winding and winding path.
As Bloomberg reported, the FBI Cyber Crimes Squad in San Francisco focused their research on the fact that bitcoin activity is traceable, as transactions are recorded as is always the case with blockchain. on distributed registers. Until the end of May, agents had identified at least two dozen addresses used to send bitcoin and found the last address where those bitcoins had been massed (hence the recovery).
Bloomberg explained that bitcoin is in the wallet (a hot wallet that is always connected to the internet, versus a cold wallet that is not) that is held on an exchange, accessed by a private key. Where exactly the bitcoins were held, and who gave the private key to the FBI, was not disclosed, the site noted.
In the affidavit in support of the bitcoin seizure warrant, the FBI noted that it was using a Blockchain Explorer, which uses API and blockchain nodes to extract data from a blockchain, and uses a database to organize and present data. to a user in a searchable format. These explorers are online tools that work like a blockchain search engine that allows users to search and examine transactional data for all addresses on a particular blockchain.
The document clarifies that upon examining the bitcoin public ledger, the ransom payment address received two payments totaling 75 bitcoins to two different addresses.
And then started the jump. The affidavit details how dozens of bitcoins and fractions of bitcoins were sent to various addresses (redacted in the document), 23 in total, before ending up in the ultimate wallet, where it had not been moved. [from] since.
Interestingly, the value of the recovered bitcoin was worth around $ 2.3 million, reflecting the steep drop in the value of the crypto since the ransomware was paid in early May. For the wicked, in terms of ill-gotten gains: easy come, easy go.
Learn more about Bitcoin:
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NEW PYMNTS DATA: STUDY ON CRYPTO-CURRENCY PAYMENTS – MAY 2021
About the study: U.S. consumers see cryptocurrency as more than just a store of value: 46 million plans say they plan to use it to make payments for everything from financial services to ‘grocery. In the Cryptocurrency Payments Report, PYMNTS surveys 8,008 cryptocurrency users and non-users in the United States to examine how they plan to use crypto to make purchases, what crypto they plan to buy. ‘use and how merchant acceptance can influence merchant choice and consumer spending.
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