Key Takeaways
- The Orbit Chain exploiter has moved a total of 12,932 Ether — worth $47.7 million across seven transactions
- The hacker is currently in possession of about $71 million in digital assets which includes $51.1 million in Ether
The exploiter behind the $82 million Orbit Brudge hack has reportedly moved $47.7 million to cryptocurrency privacy mixer Tornado Cash. The latest development comes nearly 6 months after the hack took place. On December 31, 2023, Orbit Bridge, a bridging service for cross-chain protocol Orbit Chain was exploited resulting in losses totalling over $82 million.
As per Arkham Intelligence, in five separate transactions, each to a new wallet, the Orbit Bridge hacker siphoned off $30 million in USDT, $10 million in USDC, and 9500 ETH valued at $22 million, 231 WBTC worth $10 million, and $10 million in DAI.
Now, reports have surfaced that after months of lying dormant the Orbit Chain exploiter has moved a total of 12,932 Ether (ETH) — worth $47.7 million across seven transactions on June 8, to a new address, which later sent the funds to crypto mixer Tornado Cash.
According to Ehercsna data, $47.7 million in Ether sent through Tornado Cash were majorly in batches of 100 ETH. The hacker is currently in possession of about $71 million in DAI and ether due to the assets’ surge in price since the exploit took place. The $71 Million includes $51.1 million in Ether while the rest mainly consists of small amounts of wrapped-Bitcoin (wBTC), wrapped-Ether (wETH), Orbit Chain (ORC) and USD Coin (USDC).
Even though it was widely reported that losses from the Orbit Chain exploit were around $82 Million, blockchain analytic firm Arkham Intelligence has now come up with new revelations. The firm took to X to state that the “hacker stole over $100M in ETH and DAI from Orbit Chain 5 months ago”
Crypto Mixers like Tornado Cash have long been leveraged by hackers for their anonymity. Mixers use an algorithmic technique to disguise who each of the coins belongs to, where they came from and who they’ll be withdrawn by. Similar to the case of Orbit Chain, earlier this year, the hacker behind the $25 million breach at Kronos Research transferred another $2.6 million worth of Ether to the Tornado Cash.
While crypto mixers become hackers’ playgrounds, crypto scams and thefts are becoming a norm in the Web3 space. A recent Peckshield report has revealed that more than $574 million worth of digital assets were lost across 30 individual crypto hacks during May 2024, representing a 666% month-over-month increase.
