Elliptic: Binance Hacker Turns to CoinJoin as 44% of Stolen $6.43 Billion Is Frozen
Cryptocurrency investigators have traced the laundering of approximately $6.43 billion stolen from Binance across 11 blockchain networks, around 12,000 wallets and more than 40,000 transactions. According to blockchain analytics firm Elliptic, approximately $2.85 billion, representing 44% of the stolen funds, has been frozen or seized, while roughly $3.24 billion remains in cryptocurrency addresses linked to the attacker.
The investigation also identified a change in the laundering methods used by the hacker. Elliptic reported that the attacker has begun using CoinJoin for the first time, introducing another layer of complexity into efforts to track the movement of the stolen cryptocurrency.
Binance Stolen Funds Spread Across 11 Blockchains
The scale of the operation is reflected in the number of blockchain networks, wallets and transactions involved. Elliptic's findings indicate that the movement of the approximately $6.43 billion in stolen assets has extended across 11 blockchains, with around 12,000 wallet addresses and more than 40,000 transactions identified in the laundering process.
Of the total amount, approximately $2.85 billion has been frozen or seized, accounting for 44% of the stolen funds. Meanwhile, roughly $3.24 billion remains in addresses associated with the suspected attacker.
These figures provide an overview of the recovery and tracing efforts surrounding the incident. However, the amount frozen or seized and the funds still held in linked addresses represent separate categories of the reported asset movements.
Tron Emerges as a Major Route for Fund Transfers
Tron has played a significant role in the movement of the stolen cryptocurrency. According to Elliptic, funds associated with the operation have been distributed across approximately 7,700 addresses on the network.
The extensive distribution of funds across thousands of addresses illustrates the scale of the transaction network identified by investigators. Alongside activity on Tron, the use of 11 different blockchain networks has added further complexity to the process of monitoring the stolen assets.
The investigation also identified the attacker's first reported use of CoinJoin, a transaction-mixing technique designed to combine cryptocurrency transfers from multiple participants. By mixing transactions, CoinJoin can make it more difficult to establish markets direct links between the original source of funds and their subsequent destinations.
Approximately $16 Million Linked to Earlier Bitget Hack
Another notable finding concerns approximately $16 million transferred to cryptocurrency addresses associated with the earlier Bitget hack.
The connection between these addresses adds another element to the investigation, linking part of the reported fund movements to wallets associated with a separate hacking incident involving Bitget.
Elliptic's findings, shared through Wu Blockchain, highlight the extensive movement of the stolen assets across blockchain networks and the different methods used to move and obscure their transaction history.
Despite approximately 44% of the stolen funds having been frozen or seized, roughly $3.24 billion remains in addresses linked to the attacker. The reported use of CoinJoin, alongside the distribution of funds across approximately 7,700 Tron addresses, remains a significant part of the investigation.
Writer: Victoria HaleTechnology & Blockchain WriterVictoria Hale writes about blockchain technology, digital infrastructure, and the intersection of emerging technologies with finance. Her articles explore how new protocols and systems are shaping the evolving digital economy.She prioritises clarity and accuracy when explaining technical developments to a general audience.
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