As a seasoned crypto investor with a few scars from past bear markets and hacks, I can’t help but feel a mix of frustration and concern as I read about the latest developments in the Poloniex hack case. The fact that more than half of the stolen funds have been moved through Tornado Cash, a controversial coin mixer known for its privacy features, is particularly troubling.


As a researcher studying the aftermath of the Poloniex cryptocurrency exchange hack in November 2023, I’ve discovered that the situation is still unfolding. Contrary to Poloniex’s announcement of identifying the culprit months ago and promising a $10 million reward, the stolen funds have yet to be recovered.

Recently, PeckShield, a leading blockchain investigation firm, discovered that over half of the pilfered funds have been transferred via Tornado Cash.

Approximately six months after the hack, the malicious actor transferred 17,800 ETH, equivalent to around $53.5 million, from six separate wallets to a solitary address belonging to the contentious Ethereum mixing service, Tornado Cash.

The hacker who breached Poloniex exchange has so far transferred approximately $53.5 million worth of Ethereum (17.8K ETH) to Tornado Cash.
— PeckShieldAlert (@PeckShieldAlert) May 14, 2024

As a crypto investor, I’ve recently noticed a significant transaction in my portfolio. Just a week ago, someone transferred over 1,100 Ether in eleven separate batches of 100 Ether each to a sanctioned crypto mixer within a span of two hours.

Poloniex was hacked in November 2023 after its private keys were compromised by malicious actors.

As a security analyst, I’ve uncovered evidence suggesting that the infamous Lazarus Group, believed to operate under the North Korean administration, orchestrated a heist worth approximately $126 million from the exchange’s hot wallets.

After identifying the hacker’s suspicious transactions, my team at Poloniex took swift action by freezing a portion of the involved assets to minimize further damages. We assured our users that the losses are manageable and our operational income is sufficient to cover them.

Justin Sun, the founder of TRON and the purchaser of Poloniex in 2019, assured users who were negatively impacted by the exchange that they would be fully reimbursed. Simultaneously, he maintained that Poloniex was financially sound and was actively pursuing collaborations with other exchanges to recoup the misplaced funds.

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2024-05-14 17:00