a Ethereum Foundation, the company responsible for developing the cryptocurrency of the same name, is accused of participating in a theft of 185,000 ETH and 250 bitcoins. The case is related to the broker hack Gatecoinwhich took place in 2016.
Although these cryptocurrencies were only worth R$6.5 million at the time, today the amount is equivalent to R$2.3 billion. Regardless of the amount, the theft allegations against the Ethereum Foundation are concerning.
The investigation into the Ethereum Foundation and the hack of brokerage Gatecoin were presented by a social media profile called TruthLabs. According to information, the profile is linked to Steven Nerayoff, a former Ethereum advisor who recently vowed to expose Vitalik Buterin, the creator of ETH.
Ethereum Foundation is facing serious allegations of theft
Analysis of TruthLabs It is essentially an on-chain study, that is, it monitors the movement of cryptocurrencies between addresses. Therefore, the report states that the ethers (ETH) stolen from Gatecoin ended up at an address funded by the Ethereum Foundation.
“Evidence of the Ethereum Foundation’s involvement in the Gatecoin hack in 2016, prior to the exploitation of the [The] DAO”started the TruthLabs profile. “Below is a thread showing evidence of transactions linking the Ethereum team to the 185,000 ethers (ETH) stolen from Gatecoin, which are now worth over $460 million.”
🚨🧵Evidence of the Ethereum Foundations’ involvement in the 2016 Gatecoin hack, prior to the DAO exploit 🚨
Below is a thread of transactional evidence linking the Ethereum team to the 185K Ether stolen from Gatecoin that is worth over $460 million today. 👇
— TruthLabs 🫡 (@BoringSleuth) January 17, 2024
To start the explanation, the profile highlights the address 0x1342…8bd5f, listed by Gatecoin itself as a destination for its customers’ cryptocurrencies. He then explains that before the hack, he researched older transactions in this wallet to find out who funded them.
In a series of tweets, TruthLabs points out that there are three loops between the addresses of the Foundation and the hacker. Another address mentioned is 0x826…7c6e6, which is said to belong to a developer, as some contracts were created through that address.
“How 0x556b financed gas [ETH] to 0x8266 (hacker), this implies they are the same person or closely related.”according to TruthLabs. “Since 0x8266 has only communicated with three addresses, it is safe to assume that these are at least peers, if not the same entity.”
“Below is a basic forensic map, highlighting that the Ethereum Foundation created the Eth Main wallet and funded the 0x556b wallet [e que] 0x556b sent gas money [ETH] to wallet 0x8266, the original backer of the official Gatecoin hacker wallet, 0x1342.”
As for ‘gas’, the profile refers to small amounts of Ethereum, which are used to pay network fees on transactions and the creation of smart contracts.
The profile explains the reasons why the Ethereum Foundation would rob a broker and highlights that the company itself estimated in September 2015 that it would run out of money by June 2016. “They were on the verge of collapse”wrote TruthLabs.
“Without a doubt, in my mind, the Ethereum Foundation, or one of its core team members, who worked on developing the contracts later created by the infamous [The] DAO was involved in the hack of the Gatecoin exchange, where more than 185,000 Ether was stolen.”
Without a doubt, the Ethereum Foundation, or one of its CORE team members, who worked on developing the contracts later used by the exploited infamous DAO, was involved in the hacking of GateCoin, which made off with more than 185K Ether .
— TruthLabs 🫡 (@BoringSleuth) January 17, 2024
Vitalik Buterin, creator of Ethereum, was tagged in the publication by several people, hoping the developer would comment on the matter. Buterin made no comment. The full investigation can be found on Twitter.
At the time of writing, ETH is trading at $2,465, down 2.3% in the last 24 hours. However, the decline is related to Bitcoin’s decline, which fell 4.3% over the same period, and not to the above allegations.
Source: Live Coins
Barry Siefert is an accomplished journalist and author at The Nation View. He is known for his expertise in the field of cryptocurrency, and has written extensively on the topic. With a background in finance and economics, Barry has a deep understanding of the underlying technology and market forces that drive the crypto industry.
