Cryptocurrency companies may constantly exist trying to meliorate their usability and security, but when in that location'due south a weakness for hackers to exploit, they get big or go dwelling house.

According to court documents released by Seamus Hughes at Program on Extremism, the Us District Court for the District of Columbia already convened a thou jury to issue an indictment against 2 individuals in a massive crypto theft.

The case, titled "Usa of America v. Tian Yinyin and Li Jiadong", charges that the two Chinese nationals stole virtually $250 1000000 worth of virtual currencies between July 2022 and April 2022. The grand jury for the example was sworn in on May 7, 2022.

Yinyin and Jiadong both held accounts at two unlike unnamed virtual currency exchanges. Past converting virtual currency into fiat currency for a fee, the two appeared to have operated equally an unlicensed money transmitting business organisation. All such companies in the United States are legally required to annals with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network.

Transferring over $100 million worth of Bitcoin between each other's accounts and to accounts the two held in China, Yinyin and Jiadong engaged in a high stakes money laundering scheme earlier the hack occurred. Their transactions mainly consisted of converting Bitcoin to USD, Chinese yuan, and even iTunes souvenir cards.

Very little information is available on the court documents nigh the individuals themselves, but they are Game of Thrones fans. Yinyin'south and Jiadong's account names for the exchanges were listed as "snowsjohn" and "khaleesi", respectively.

Crypto exchanges nevertheless vulnerable to hackers

This is not the start time a big amount of virtual currency has been stolen from an exchange.

After S Korean exchange Coincheck lost over $500 meg to a hack in 2022, the crime was considered the "biggest theft in the history of the world." The Italian commutation Altsbit is scheduled to shut its doors this year after a Feb. 5 hack stole over $70,000 in Bitcoin and Ether.