Alex Thorn, head of research at Galaxy Research, said 17 BTC taken from a Coldcard attack victim were split, swapped into ETH through THORChain, and then deposited into offshore betting platform Duel.com. Thorn said the victim held nearly 30 BTC in total and that the traced portion of the stolen funds amounted to about 229.72 ETH, worth roughly $445,000.
According to Thorn, the victim and Galaxy’s research team emailed every known Duel.com address with full transaction and deposit records and asked the platform to freeze the funds. He said Duel.com replied that the victim should have law enforcement contact the company directly.
Thorn called that response unacceptable, arguing that much of the West was already past midnight and that filing a police report would not move forward until at least Monday. He also pointed to Duel.com’s anti-money laundering policy, which says the platform conducts KYC and complies with applicable laws. Thorn said that if a platform receives forensic evidence showing funds came from an ongoing cyberattack and still refuses to freeze them, that amounts to assisting theft. He added that because Duel.com’s X account had been suspended, he tagged several people linked to the platform and warned that major litigation could follow if the funds are not frozen.
Alex Thorn, head of research at Galaxy Research, said 17 BTC stolen from a Coldcard attack victim were split up, swapped into ETH through THORChain, and later deposited into offshore betting platform Duel.com.
Thorn said the victim had held nearly 30 BTC. The portion traced to Duel.com was equivalent to about 229.72 ETH, worth roughly $445,000.
Request to freeze funds was rejected
According to Thorn, the victim and Galaxy’s research team emailed every known Duel.com address, providing full transaction and deposit details and asking the platform to freeze the funds.
He said Duel.com replied that the victim should have police contact the platform directly. Thorn described that response as unacceptable.
Thorn challenges platform’s AML stance
Thorn noted that Duel.com’s anti-money laundering policy says it carries out KYC and complies with relevant laws. Even so, he said, the platform declined to freeze the funds after receiving notice backed by forensic evidence that the assets came from an ongoing cyberattack.
He added that most of the Western world was already past midnight, which meant any police report would not move forward until at least Monday. In his view, if a platform is notified that funds tied to an active theft have arrived and still refuses to freeze them, it is assisting the theft.
Because Duel.com’s X account had already been suspended, Thorn tagged several people associated with the platform and urged them to push for action. He also said Duel.com could face major legal action if the funds are not frozen.
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