In a recent development, the individual responsible for the theft of Ethereum ($ETH) from WazirX has significantly intensified their laundering activities. Over the past 24 hours, the attacker has moved a total of 10,000 $ETH, equivalent to approximately $23.3 million, according to Spot On Chain. This large transaction entails transferring 5,000 $ETH to Tornado Cash, an application for mixing cryptocurrencies intended for hiding transaction information. The remaining 5,000 $ETH was relocated to a new wallet for the second stage of money laundering.
The WazirX attacker won’t stop laundering stolen $ETH!In the past 24 hours, the attacker moved 10K $ETH ($23.3M), including:• sent another 5K $ETH to #TornadoCash• moved another 5K $ETH to a new address for further laundering. Total laundered: 12.6K $ETH ($30.13M) in… https://t.co/hqIoMLq8s9 pic.twitter.com/HONUuhnqCB
— Spot On Chain (@spotonchain) September 10, 2024
Hacker Holds $115M in Ethereum After Recent Transfers
So far, the attacker has been able to cash out 12,600 $ETH, which is equivalent to approximately $30.13 million within eight days. The current balance of the attacker is now 49,100 $ETH, which is equal to roughly 115 million dollars. This increased level of laundering is evidence of the further steps taken by the hacker to avoid identification and the recovery of the proceeds.
On September 3rd, the well-known on-chain analysis company Spot On Chain unveiled that the WazirX hacker had earlier used the Tornado Cash mixer for a transaction of 2,600 $ETH or $6.5 million. This made it the second time that the funds were moved to the privacy-enhancing platform after the first time of the exploit.
Tornado Cash Hinders Tracking of Stolen Crypto
Tornado Cash is often used to hide the sources and destinations of cryptocurrency transactions, making it ideal for anyone who wants to hide their transactions. Therefore, the use of such platforms poses a number of challenges to investigators and security specialists dealing with the tracking and identification of stolen property.
Lastly, officials are actively observing the development of events, but the advanced techniques used by the attacker in money laundering are still making it difficult to restore the stolen cryptocurrency.
