Poloniex Hacker Laundered $308K in Ethereum Through Tornado Cash

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The Poloniex hacker identified by the address 0x3E…fDFd performed money laundering by sending 100 ETH (about $308,000) to Tornado Cash. This is the very first time that the culprit of the Poloniex hack has used Tornado Cash for such an illicit purpose as reported by WuBlockchain. 

As per the latest findings, the hacker in question has amassed a large haul of crypto assets worth over $182 million, states the report. This includes  25,563 ETH ($ 79 million), 305,042 TRX ($ 36 million),626 BTC (valued at around $32 million) and 364. 292 BTCT ($23.3 million). 

Poloniex Suffers Multimillion Hacker Attack

On 10th November last year, Poloniex was hacked which resulted in a huge   $114 million multi-crypto theft. It was clear that the Ethereum wallet associated with the “Poloniex hacker” had sent a total of $114 million worth of tokens in 357 transactions sent from Poloniex. A Tron blockchain wallet linked to the occurrence sent around $42 million to multiple addresses as well. 

Is the Notorious Lazarus Behind the Poloniex Hack?

The individual responsible for the Poloniex hack was supposedly identified as a member of the infamous Lazarus Group, a North Korean-based hacking organization. The Lazarus hacking team, which is involved in mass-scale cyber-crimes of billions, normally targets financial institutions and cryptocurrency platforms to finance the regime in North Korea. 

Justin Sun-owned crypto exchange HTX and Heco cross-chain bridge were also attacked, with the sacrifice of more than $97 million in different tokens. It was an alleged private key vulnerability which led to the attack on HTX and Heco Chain, with the attackers using the Heco bridge to transfer tokens using private keys from the user’s wallet to their accounts on the Ethereum network. 

The laundering of 100 ETH to Tornado Cash makes it openly visible that the hackers who steal money from crypto often use sophisticated means of laundry. Tornado Cash, a decentralized mixer protocol, jumbles up transfers making it difficult for the authorities to track the funds.

The present probe into the Poloniex heist, as well as associated events, demonstrates the dire need for stringent safety processes to be applied in crypto exchanges and blockchain protocols as a whole.  

Stay up to date on the latest information regarding this ongoing case as security officers and cyber experts try to trace down the suspects in this cyber arena.