A recent X post by Cyvers, a blockchain security platform, revealed that the WazirX hacker had moved 2,600 ETH ($6.5M) to crypto mixer Tornado Cash for crypto laundering.
WazirX Hacker Transferred 2,600 ETH Worth $6.5M Via Tornado Cash
A wallet address linked to the hacker behind the July 18 WazirX cyber attack, which led to the loss of about $235M (~Rs 2000 crores) in users’ funds, has moved 2,600 ETH worth $6.5M to sanctioned Tornado Cash cryptocurrency mixer to launder the stolen ETH.
Sending stolen tokens to a cryptocurrency mixer is one of the smart moves by hackers to make tracking and recovering stolen crypto very difficult for law enforcement.
According to DeBank, a crypto tracking platform, the hacker’s wallet had a total of $6.7M worth of ETH as of September 2. But after the transfer, the wallet now has a balance of $154,000 worth of ETH.
DeBank revealed that the hacker moved the 2,600 ETH in 26 transactions within an hour – sending 100 ETH per transaction to the crypto mixer.
BTCRepublic reported that on July 18, 2024, WazirX, an India-based crypto exchange, suffered a hacking exploit that targeted its multi-sig wallet, resulting in a heavy loss of over $230M.
Since then, trading and withdrawals have been stopped on the platform as the exchange has been unable to reconcile its balanced collaterals against users’ assets.
In its move towards reinstalling financial operations and reimbursing affected users, WazirX, through its parent company Zettai Pte Ltd, filed for a 30-day moratorium application with the Singapore High Court to buy more time for its restructuring efforts.
The exchange held a virtual Town Hall event yesterday to discuss some critical issues and outcomes with affected users.
However, the hacker made the transfer shortly after the Town Hall meeting.
The exchange initially scheduled the withdrawal to take place on September 9. However, WazirX moved its withdrawal forward to enable users to get their funds earlier.
On August 23, WazirX announced that 34% of assets on its platform are “frozen” and will not be accessible to users for withdrawal due to ongoing issues with regulatory bodies.
On August 26, WazirX revealed that its plan to reinstate INR withdrawals had begun and users can now withdraw at most 66% of their crypto balances in INR on the platform.
However, the latest announcement from the exchange showed that crypto withdrawals are still on hold due to some legal issues.
More so, WazirX has pursued legal proceedings in the Singapore High Court as part of its restructuring efforts.
