UK court orders Bitfinex to freeze USD 860,000 in Bitcoin

According to Coinnounce, Bitfinex and blockchain analysis company Chainalysis traced back nearly a million-dollar funds in Bitcoins back to a ransomware payout. As such, England and Wales High Court has ordered Bitfinex to freeze the address and share its KYC details. Moreover, a cyber insurer used Chainalysis software to track the extorted funds.

The victim of this ransomware attack – an unnamed firm – was asked to pay USD 1.2 million in Bitcoins. The company’s insurer filed the court claim, however, it ultimately paid USD 950,000 in the form of 109.25 Bitcoins. Some of the Bitcoin was converted into fiat currency, while the remainder appears to have been sent to an address on the Bitfinex platform. Bitfinex said that it is now working to trace the Bitcoin.