Bitfinex Seeks Communication With Bitcoin Thief

[Posternut]

On August 2nd the Hong Kong-based Bitcoin exchange Bitfinex was compromised for roughly $70 million worth of Bitcoin. According to sources, the attacker managed to drain the exchange through its multi-signature security — gaining 120,000 BTC from the breach. Now the exchange is trying to reach out to the responsible party in an attempt to get its customers’ Bitcoin returned.

https://news.bitcoin.com/bitfinex-seeks-bitcoin-thief/

[yayayo]

It seems to be a desperate attempt by Bitfinex to get at least part of the funds back. But I doubt it will work, because the hacker would have to trust Bitfinex that he is not exposed to risk of identification. Even if Bitfinex enters a deal with the hacker this won't stop the ongoing investigations by law enforcement.
But first of all it's questionable in the first place that the hacker has any motivation to make a deal, because he may have already washed all his coins and has zero problems spending them.

The whole announcement might even be a red herring, assuming that the alleged "hack" was an inside job by the Bitfinex operators...

ya.ya.yo!

[Snorek]

If they couldn't track that hacker by now then trying to reach to him now seems like a desperate move.
I guess Bitfinex is doing this not because they believe the stolen bitcoins can be returned, but to show that they are doing something.
Whoever stole the bitcoin will wait patiently for couple years until the case is no longer a hot topic and them will live happily ever after.

[~Bitcoin~]

Last time when hacker was trying to communicate with bitfinex and reach an agreeable amount they didn't give enough attention and now they seeking to communicate again.

I don't think hacker will again keep wasting time, it was suggested before also bitfinex to be a little bit flexible with hacker to get atleast half of the users funds securely which may atleast limit losses of users but they don't care that much that time. Now they are being desperate  

What could be the agreeable percentage between hacker and bitfinex to settle this down, how much flexible will be bitfinex this time?
I think they may not offer more than 10%.

[tiggytomb]

They could offer the person a job, I think back in the day when the ps3 was hacked Sony offered the guy a job in their security team

[clickerz]

On August 2nd the Hong Kong-based Bitcoin exchange Bitfinex was compromised for roughly $70 million worth of Bitcoin. According to sources, the attacker managed to drain the exchange through its multi-signature security — gaining 120,000 BTC from the breach. Now the exchange is trying to reach out to the responsible party in an attempt to get its customers’ Bitcoin returned.

https://news.bitcoin.com/bitfinex-seeks-bitcoin-thief/

Most likely the thief/hacker won't returned the stolen bitcoin, in fact i doubt the thief/hacker would communicate "anonymously"

Of course,the thief is possibly enjoying his loot,why he should returned.  

I do not know if the report is correct, or they just giving a false hope to their angry clients.This is a big breach amounting to $70 millions.There should be a strenuous investigations and let the perpetrators face their wrongdoings.

Is there a possibility that it is an inside job?

[LFC_Bitcoin]

Maybe the hacker can't use/spend the stolen coins without being detected by authorities so Bitfinex are offering some kind of reward, some kind of bitcoin sum to return the stolen coins. I guess that could work.

[amacar2]

Maybe the hacker can't use/spend the stolen coins without being detected by authorities so Bitfinex are offering some kind of reward, some kind of bitcoin sum to return the stolen coins. I guess that could work.

I don't think hackers can't use those stolen bitcoins because there are many bitcoin mixing services even in darkwebs which they can use so that their bitcoin addresses can't be detected by any services afterwards. And looking at how they have easily got access to bitfinex funds, i am quite sure they have already exchanged some of those hacked bitcoin somehow by now but i also doubt them being able to exchange all of those.

[Junko]

This seems like a futile endeavor. Do they really think the alleged thieves would somehow have a change of heart and return any of the stolen bitcoins? Yeah, right. I guess it can't hurt to try, but still. As an earlier poster said, it's more likely a smoke screen to cover up an inside job.

[pawel7777]

There's no harm in trying. Bitfinex are trying to show that they're doing all they can to get the users' money back.

Chances are slim, but it's better than doing nothing. The hacker surely can mix all that bitcoins eventually, but he'll have a hard time laundering the money. If the "bounty" is high enough and if Bitfinex agrees not to press any charges, the offer could be very attractive to the hacker.

From the article:

If the hacker chooses this communication route, the two parties can discuss within any one of the “2072 addresses currently holding the bitcoins in question.”

Are these addresses publically known? Have the coins moved since the hack?

[calkob]

i doubt they will even make contact, why would you its to risky, does anyone know the address that the bitcoins ended up at?

[clickerz]

i doubt they will even make contact, why would you its to risky, does anyone know the address that the bitcoins ended up at?

I think this is a good questions so that we can check on blockchain where those bitcoins go and where it is re-deposited. How much is left,or the bitfenx is telling the truth. Hope they will reveal the address.

[Kprawn]

I would be very suspicious if a company I hacked, tried to communicate with me. The guy or the group already got away with it, and most

of that money are already pushed through the system, so it is probably too late. They might know something about this hacker, and wants

to use that information as leverage without exposing him/her in public and gaining favour to get some of the money ??...Well Whatever

works, if they succeed ...it would be a bonus for the victims.  

[bitbunnny]

This is strange. I mean talking to the person who robbed you, literaly. What would be the point, asking to pay the stolen money back? I don't think this would work. And if the company is comunicating with this person then they now who this person is, or at least they have some of the data. Why don't they reveal that to the police or something?

[franky1]

they robbed themselves and are just doing PR to keep up the pretense that it was an outside job.
the owner was going through a divorce and suddenly had to make lots of funds disapear to ensure he doesnt have to give 50% to his now ex.

now the divorce is over he if secretly holding the coins but trying to gain fiat from outside investors via
https://bnktothefuture.com/pitches/bitfinex

that way he can keep the coins and off load the debt to VC's.

[Wind_FURY]

they robbed themselves and are just doing PR to keep up the pretense that it was an outside job.
the owner was going through a divorce and suddenly had to make lots of funds disapear to ensure he doesnt have to give 50% to his now ex.

That is a very interesting turn of events. But before knowing that the owner was going through a divorce, many of us from the community have already been thinking that an inside job is very much possible considering that they were using multi-sigs and other security measures. Only a person who has inside knowledge and access would be able to touch those Bitcoins.

now the divorce is over he if secretly holding the coins but trying to gain fiat from outside investors via
https://bnktothefuture.com/pitches/bitfinex

that way he can keep the coins and off load the debt to VC's.

Then the affected users have every right to get the authorities involved. People with criminal minds should not be allowed to get away with their exploits.

[Zadicar]

This is strange. I mean talking to the person who robbed you, literaly. What would be the point, asking to pay the stolen money back? I don't think this would work. And if the company is comunicating with this person then they now who this person is, or at least they have some of the data. Why don't they reveal that to the police or something?

Its really a strange thing for  bitfinex owners  trying to contact  to the  person  who hacked on their  website. Im thinking that they  would try to convince  to return  back the  money that have been stolen but still it would  be  useless at all and  no  one  hacker  would able  to do that  hence  thats a lot of money already.

[I Am Hero]

haha, this is pretty funny.
it is as if they are talking in front of a mirror because i bet there were no hack ever, and they did all of that themselves. 70 million dollar is not a small amount after all.

[jakelyson]

It is doubtful that the hacker will bite this. Even if bitfinex offers a secure channel for them to communicate, they will still risk exposing themselves. Any sound mind will not take that risk, especially if you already have $70 million in your lap.

[Yakamoto]

On August 2nd the Hong Kong-based Bitcoin exchange Bitfinex was compromised for roughly $70 million worth of Bitcoin. According to sources, the attacker managed to drain the exchange through its multi-signature security — gaining 120,000 BTC from the breach. Now the exchange is trying to reach out to the responsible party in an attempt to get its customers’ Bitcoin returned.

https://news.bitcoin.com/bitfinex-seeks-bitcoin-thief/

It really seems impossible for them to ever make contact with the guy, and chances are they never will. We're going to at best see a minor statement regarding this in the future, but it will never come from the hacker himself. Chances are that guy is long-gone and they aren't going to be finding him anytime soon, unless he gets cocky and exposes himself either online or in real life. It might just be a waiting game.