BTC Valued at $144M Sent to Coin Mixer From Defunct Darknet Market After Eight-Year Wait

The coins are linked to Abraxas marketplace, a darknet market that shut in 2015.

AccessTimeIconOct 23, 2023 at 3:18 p.m. UTC

An entity has moved 4,800 BTC ($144M) to a coin mixer from a wallet tied to defunct darknet marketplace Abraxas, which closed in 2015, according to blockchain analyst ZachXBT.

Abraxas shut suddenly eight years ago, locking user funds on the website in what was described as an "exit scam."

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  • The funds were left untouched until this week, when the wallet owner consolidated them before transferring the full amount to a bitcoin mixer.

    A mixer is a tool that jumbles up bitcoin transactions across a period of time by splitting the coins across various wallets. The U.S. treasury was looking to label coin mixers last week as a "primary money laundering concern."

    Edited by Sheldon Reback.

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    Oliver Knight

    Oliver Knight is a CoinDesk reporter based between London and Lisbon. He does not own any crypto.


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