Blockchain security firm Chainalysis has now revealed that 104 bitcoins originating from QuadrigaCX were sent to wallets associated with Wasabi, a cryptocurrency "mixer" service popular among privacy-minded users.
As reported by U.Today, more than 100 Bitcoins previously held in wallets connected to the defunct QuadrigaCX crypto exchange moved out of cold storage for the first time in over three years. The transactions appear to have been initiated by someone other than Ernst and Young, the company's bankruptcy trustee.
The movement of the coins came as a surprise – especially given the length of time they had been left dormant.
It follows similarly to BTC-e movements observed earlier in November when $165 million in bitcoin was withdrawn from a wallet after over a year of being inactive.
Chainalysis is actively monitoring post-mixer transactions.
QuadrigaCX was a Canadian cryptocurrency exchange which went bankrupt after its founder, Gerald Cotten, passed away in December 2018. Cotten had been the sole person with access to the exchange's cold wallet storage accounts, which held hundreds of millions of dollars worth of customer funds in various cryptocurrencies. As no one else has been able to access these wallets, the remaining funds have not been able to be returned to customers.
The exchange mismanaged customer funds and failed to protect them properly, leading to the loss of around $250 million in customer funds. The company declared bankruptcy in 2019 and subsequently ceased operations.
Tomiwabold Olajide
Gamza Khanzadaev
Dan Burgin
U.Today Editorial Team
Vladislav Sopov