TL;DR
- The Poloniex hacker attempts to launder stolen funds by transferring 1,100 Ethereum to Tornado Cash.
- It is the first time the cybercriminal moves the funds since the hack.
- The Poloniex attack resulted in the loss of $100 million in November last year.
The hacker responsible for the massive theft at the Poloniex exchange has attempted to launder the stolen funds. According to reports from PeckShield and WuBlockchain, the thief transferred 1,100 Ethereum (ETH), valued at approximately $3.4 million, to the Tornado Cash mixer.
This marks the first time the criminal has moved the funds since the hack, suggesting an attempt to cover the trail of the stolen assets. The movements were discovered through blockchain data analysis conducted by PeckShield and subsequently confirmed by WuBlockchain.
#PeckShieldAlert #Poloniex hacker- labeled address 0x3e94…3fdfd has transferred 1.11k $ETH (worth ~$3.4m) to #Tornadocash pic.twitter.com/JIDG0pYfUH
— PeckShieldAlert (@PeckShieldAlert) May 7, 2024
The Poloniex hack, which occurred in November of last year, resulted in the loss of $100 million from one of its hot wallets. Since then, the whereabouts of the stolen funds have been subject to intense speculation and monitoring by the crypto community.
The use of cryptocurrency mixer services like Tornado Cash significantly complicates transaction tracking, posing a major challenge for law enforcement agencies and companies tasked with enforcing the law, who struggle to trace and recover stolen assets.
Poloniex Negotiations Yield No Results
The Poloniex attack has been predominantly attributed to the North Korean hacker group Lazarus, known for its state-sponsored hacking activities. Lazarus has been behind numerous high-profile cyberattacks in the past. The existence of criminal groups of this caliber is a thorn in the side of the crypto industry and decentralized finance.
In an attempt to mitigate the damage caused by the attack, Poloniex offered the hacker a 5% reward, equivalent to about $5 million, to return the remaining 95% of the stolen funds. However, this offer failed to persuade the hacker, and the recent transfer of ETH to Tornado Cash is evidence of this.
Poloniex’s reputation and security were strongly questioned by the community following the attack. Founded in 2014 and subsequently acquired by Justin Sun in 2019, Poloniex faces significant challenges in terms of rebuilding user trust and strengthening its defenses against future attacks.
The pursuit of justice and the recovery of stolen assets continue to be a priority for authorities and affected companies. Let’s hope concrete results are achieved.
