The mastermind behind the $82 million Orbit Chain hack on New Year’s Eve has transferred $47.7 million to the cryptocurrency privacy mixer Tornado Cash after maintaining silence for five months.
On June 8, a total of 12,932 Ether (ETH) equivalent to $47.7 million was moved in seven transactions to a new address, which then sent the funds to the crypto mixer Tornado Cash, as reported by blockchain analytics firm Arkham Intelligence.
According to Arkham, the hack actually resulted in losses closer to $100 million rather than the widely reported $82 million. The hacker had stolen over $100 million in ETH and DAI from Orbit Chain five months ago and had remained quiet since then.
The transfers made through Tornado Cash mostly consisted of batches of 100 ETH, as shown by Etherscan data. The stolen $20 million in Dai (DAI) and other coins obtained from the cross-chain bridge were not moved by the hacker. Their current balance stands at $71.2 million, including $51.1 million in Ether, along with small amounts of wrapped Bitcoin (wBTC), wrapped Ether (wETH), Orbit Chain (ORC), and USD Coin (USDC).
The hack took place in the final hours of 2023, around 8:52 pm UTC on Dec. 31, 2023. Orbit Chain confirmed the exploit the following day and stated that they were actively collaborating with international law enforcement agencies to address the situation.
Orbit Chain utilizes the Inter-Blockchain Communication Protocol to facilitate the transfer of data and value within the Cosmos ecosystem. Despite nearly $37 million in total value being locked on the chain, this figure has decreased by over 75% from the $149.25 million locked just before the hack.
Hackers managed to steal $542.7 million in cryptocurrencies in the first quarter of 2024, marking a 42% increase from the same period in 2023. Notably, smart contract hacks saw a significant decline of 92% to $179 million in 2023, down from a staggering $2.6 billion in 2022.