WazirX hacker cleans fresh $11.6 million in Ethereum through Tornado Cash.
The hacker behind the $230 million breach of India’s leading crypto exchange, Wazir X, has recently moved an additional $11.6 million in Ethereum to the notorious crypto mixer, Tornado Cash.
Since the successful exploit on July 18, the hacker has been using Tornado Cash to obscure the stolen funds, complicating efforts by the Wazir X team to trace the assets. Blockchain security firm CYVERS reported on the latest transaction, noting that the hacker transferred Ethereum to a new wallet.
CYVERS detailed the transaction on their X account, revealing that 5,000 ETH (approximately $11.6 million) were moved to a new address and partially deposited into Tornado Cash. They provided a link to the Ethereum address and noted that $1.4 million had already been sent to Tornado Cash.
Following the transfer of 5,000 ETH, the new wallet began dispersing these assets in small increments of 100 ETH, each worth about $232,000, to Tornado Cash. The hacker has moved a total of 36 batches, or over 3,600 ETH, through the mixer. This method of splitting and mixing aligns with previous patterns seen in the hacker’s activities, which involved distributing 20,004 ETH across four different addresses, each receiving 5,001 ETH since September 12.
These new wallets have consistently transferred their loot in 100 ETH batches, indicating that the most recent address still has 2,601 ETH yet to be laundered.
The July 18 hack saw Wazir X lose $230 million in customer funds, marking it as one of the year’s largest exploits. The stolen crypto was taken from a multi-signature wallet co-managed by Wazir X and its security partner, Liminal Custody.
Initially, Wazir X blamed Liminal Custody for the breach, but an independent audit by Grant Thornton concluded that the exploit fell outside Liminal’s control. The Wazir X team is now facing significant criticism, with some alleging that the hack might have been an inside job.
Wazir X is offering a 10% reward to white hat hackers who can provide information leading to the recovery of the stolen $230 million. The situation places Wazir X alongside Mt. Gox as a major exchange to suffer a significant loss of user funds due to a platform exploit.
