Conor Grogan, Head of Product at Coinbase, believes that there is a “small possibility” that the transfer of $8.6 billion worth of Bitcoin (BTC) on July 4 was a hack. Calling his claim “extreme speculation” in an X post on Friday, Grogan said he found the transaction movements to be “extremely odd.” He added:
“If true (again, I’m speculating on straws here), this would be by far the largest heist in human history.”
The transfer of 80,000 BTC
On Friday, eight BTC wallets that had been dormant for 14 years transferred a total of 80,000 BTC, worth around $8.6 billion, according to blockchain analytics platform Arkham Intelligence. The massive scale of the transactions exceeded the gross domestic product (GDP) of Montenegro, a small country nestled in Southeast Europe that ranks 147th in terms of GDP.
The BTC had been moved to the original wallets on 2nd April or 4th May, 2011, Arkham Intelligence noted/ It added that the transactions had been conducted by a “single entity.”
The transactions began with the transfer of 40,000 BTC from a dormant wallet, followed by four transactions of 10,000 BTC each across a total of 10 hours. The Bitcoins have not been sold or further transferred since the five transactions — the BTC is currently held in eight new wallets.
Sani, a Bitcoin maximalist and founder of Timechain Index, believes that the transferred 80,000 BTC belong to Roger Ver, also known as ‘Bitcoin Jesus.’ Ver, an early Bitcoin investor, was arrested in Spain last year on U.S. charges of tax fraud. He allegedly owes the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) at least $48 million in taxes, according to the Department of Justice (DOJ).
Responding to an X user, Sani noted that the transfers could be an indication that Ver has reached a deal with the IRS, and a settlement might be in the pipeline.
Grogan’s theory of hack
Grogan pointed to a Bitcoin Cash (BCH) test transaction that preceded the Bitcoin transfers as potential evidence of foul play. The entity that transferred the 80,000 Bitcoins transferred 10,000 BCH, worth nearly $5 million, and back into one of the original wallets an hour before the transfer of the BTCs began.
Grogan said that there is a possibility the owner of the wallets was trying to discreetly test the private key without attracting attention with the test BCH transaction. This is because BCH transactions are not closely monitored by platforms tracking whale wallets, he said. However, Grogan wrote:
“What makes me say…
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