According to a Wired investigation, consultant Kumanan Ramanathan played a crucial role in safeguarding assets during the hack of FTX last year.
When unusual withdrawals were detected by staff members and executives on Nov. 11, 2022, Ramanathan used his personal Ledger Nano hardware wallet to move a significant portion of the company’s assets to his device, protecting between $400 and $500 million worth of cryptocurrency.
This helped mitigate further losses after the exchange reported losses surpassing $400 million. The assets remained on Ramanathan’s device until the exchange’s crypto custodian provider, BitGo, had cold storage wallets ready.
FTX then collaborated with BitGo to safeguard over $1.1 billion in total.
Additionally, another $400 million was sent to the Securities Commission of the Bahamas for safeguarding, following former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried’s filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
