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Poloniex Hacker Sends $3.3M Worth of Ether to Tornado Cash

May 6, 2024
  • The hacker sent 11 batches of 100 ether to Tornado Cash over a two-hour period.
  • The wallet also sent $32 million worth of bitcoin to an unlabelled wallet last week.
As an experienced cybersecurity analyst, I’ve seen my fair share of cryptocurrency hacks and money laundering schemes. Based on the available information, it appears that we’re dealing with a sophisticated hacker who managed to steal $125 million from Poloniex’s hot wallets in November 2022.As a crypto investor, I’ve come across disturbing news today. A hacker managed to pilfer $125 million from Poloniex’s hot wallets back in November. And guess where they sent a portion of their ill-gotten gains? To Tornado Cash, a coin mixer that’s under international sanctions. According to the blockchain data I’ve been monitoring, they transferred 1,100 ether (ETH) there. It’s disheartening to see such blatant disregard for the rules and the potential damage this could cause to the entire crypto ecosystem.
On Tuesday, an ether amounting to around $3.3 million was transferred in 100 ETH installments to Tornado Cash. This ether had remained idle for a span of 178 days prior to the transaction.

As a cryptocurrency analyst, I’ve discovered that the Poloniex hacker transferred approximately 501 bitcoins, equivalent to around $32 million at the time, to an unidentified wallet on April 30th. According to Arkham Intelligence data, this wallet currently holds a substantial amount of cryptocurrencies, with a total value of approximately $181 million spread across various blockchains.

As a crypto investor, I can tell you that Tornado.cash is a tool I’ve come across in the world of decentralized finance. It enables users, including myself, to conceal the origin and destination of our cryptocurrency transactions by blending assets from various wallets over an extended period. However, it’s important to note that this service came under scrutiny when it was revealed that the notorious North Korean hacking group Lazarus used it in 2022 to mask funds linked to the $625 million Axie Infinity exploit. Consequently, the U.S. Treasury Department imposed sanctions on Tornado.cash shortly thereafter.

In March, Elliptic, a leading blockchain security company, reported that the Lazarus Group is believed to have laundered approximately $12 million through Tornado Cash following the Heco Bridge and Poloniex hacks.

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2024-05-07 09:07