The mastermind behind the $82 million Orbit Chain hack on New Year’s Eve has transferred $47.7 million to the cryptocurrency privacy mixer Tornado Cash after maintaining radio silence for five months.
On June 8, a total of 12,932 Ether (ETH) equivalent to $47.7 million was moved in seven transactions to a new address, which subsequently forwarded the funds to the crypto mixer Tornado Cash, as reported by blockchain analytics company Arkham Intelligence.
Arkham’s recent findings suggest that the actual losses from the exploit may have been closer to $100 million, rather than the widely reported $82 million.
The hacker, who had stolen over $100 million in ETH and DAI from Orbit Chain five months ago, remained quiet until the recent transactions, according to Arkham Intelligence’s post on June 8.
The $47.7 million in Ether sent through Tornado Cash were primarily sent in batches of 100 ETH, based on Etherscan data. The hacker did not move the stolen $20 million in DAI or other coins obtained from the cross-chain bridge. Their current balance stands at $71.2 million, with $51.1 million in Ether and smaller amounts of wrapped Bitcoin (wBTC), wrapped Ether (wETH), Orbit Chain (ORC), and USD Coin (USDC).
The hack took place on December 31, 2023, around 8:52 pm UTC. Orbit Chain acknowledged the exploit the next day and stated that they were actively cooperating with international law enforcement agencies. A reward of up to $8 million USD was offered to anyone providing critical information leading to the identification of the attacker or the recovery of stolen assets.
Orbit Chain utilizes the Inter-Blockchain Communication Protocol to facilitate the transfer of data and value within the Cosmos ecosystem. Currently, there is nearly $37 million in total value locked on the chain, as per DefiLlama data. However, this figure represents a significant decline from the $149.25 million locked on the protocol just before the December 31, 2023 hack, which had reached a peak of $313 million in August 2022.
Hackers managed to steal $542.7 million in cryptocurrencies in the first quarter of 2024, marking a 42% increase from the same period in 2023. Interestingly, smart contract hacks plummeted by 92% to $179 million in 2023, down from a staggering $2.6 billion in 2022.
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