A crypto wallet address associated with the HECO Chain exploiter has transferred and anonymized approximately 40,392 Ether on the Tornado Cash protocol within eight days.
According to PeckShield, the HECO Chain exploiter executed 19 outbound transfers to Tornado Cash addresses, aiming to make approximately $145.7 million worth of stolen Ether untraceable. The majority of the funds were directed to a single Tornado Cash address, with one smaller transaction sent separately to a different address within the protocol.
In its largest transaction, the HECO Chain exploiter transferred 11,300 ETH worth roughly $39.5 million in one transaction. Utilizing Tornado Cash, crypto hackers frequently leverage this protocol to obscure the origin of their funds.
On March 21, an account linked to a $24 million Rocket Pool hack from September 2023 transferred 3,700 ETH to Tornado Cash for similar purposes. Additionally, according to Elliptic, hackers associated with North Korea’s Lazarus Group resumed utilizing Tornado Cash to launder funds stolen from hacks on March 13.
The Tornado Cash protocol faced sanctions in August 2022 by the United States Treasury Department due to its alleged facilitation of money laundering activities, including those connected to the Lazarus Group.
Roman Storm, co-founder of Tornado Cash, pleaded not guilty to charges of conspiracy to commit money laundering, sanctions violations, and operating an unlicensed money-transmitting business in September 2023.
On March 10, the Arbitrum DAO removed a proposal aimed at funding the legal defense costs of the Tornado Cash co-founders. The reason for this removal remains unclear, as the proposal was deleted at the author’s request. Further clarification was sought from DK, the pseudonymous delegate leading the initiative, but no response was received.
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