Bitcoin scam accused hacker Srikrishna Ramesh, aka Sriki, allegedly uses ghost protocol to store and transfer Ether (cryptocurrency) as moving into the main blockchain would flag the transfer, according to sources investigating the scam. The flagged coins cannot be traded in the main blockchain.
Sriki and his associate Robin Kandelwala, who were arrested in May in a case registered at New Extension police station in Tumakuru district in 2017, secured bail on July 23 from a Tumakuru court.
The Special Investigation Team of the Criminal Investigation Department had charged the duo under sections of the Karnataka Control of Organised Crime Act, 2000. The accused had moved the High Court seeking to quash the KCOCA Act. The HC, in the first week of July, disposed of the case ruling in favour of the accused.
According to sources in the investigation, Sriki, who claimed to have hacked into Bitcoin exchange giant Bitfinex, transfers the coins through ghost protocol to hide the trail. The stolen coins are allegedly in the orphaned blockchain, which has anonymity. Even after he transfers the coins, people are not able to trade them or encash them as they are not able to move them to the main blockchain.
Transferring the coins kept in the orphaned blockchain to another meta mask address is known as ghost protocol.
The sources said while many do not know how to trade these coins, it’s only Sriki who has the idea of how the coins can be traded to encash money and launder the same. If anyone moves the coins to the main blockchain of the ethereum, the whale alert, which is continuously monitoring the chain, will flag these coins. The flagged coins cannot be traded, and it may create trouble for those who have moved the coins, sources added.
The current value of 1 Ether on Thursday (July 25) is ₹2,66,508.22.
Published - July 25, 2024 11:55 pm IST
