Key Takeaways
- The hacker’s wallet currently still holds over 60 Ether, worth about $223,000.
- On May 20, the hacker moved three transactions of 100 Ether each, followed by 7 more transfers of 100 Ether each on May 21.
The hacker responsible for the $25 million breach at Kronos Research has transferred another $2.6 million worth of Ether to the cryptocurrency mixer Tornado Cash.
According to on-chain security firm PeckShield, this transfer of 700 Ether took place on May 21 from the exploiter’s wallet “0x3.”
On May 20, the hacker moved three transactions of 100 Ether each, followed by seven additional transfers of 100 Ether each the next day. This brought the total to 1,000 Ether, valued at over $3.7 million. Despite these transfers, the hacker’s wallet still holds over 60 Ether, worth about $223,000.
Data from CoinStats showed the wallet’s peak value was more than $6.4 million on May 19. The hacker’s decision to move the funds is likely tied to the recent surge in Ether’s price, which jumped over 20% in the past 24 hours, reaching $3,744 at the time of writing.
Tornado Cash, an open-source crypto mixer, is designed to obscure transaction paths, making it difficult to trace the origin of funds. While intended as a privacy tool, it is frequently used by hackers to launder stolen cryptocurrency through decentralized exchanges.
The last significant activity from the Kronos Research hacker was on May 7, when they moved 1,314 Ether, worth over $4 million, to Tornado Cash.
This began with transferring 1,314 Ether to a new wallet address starting with 0x8F5e4, which was then moved to another address starting with 0x164A24b. From there, the hacker executed ten transactions of 100 Ether each, directing the funds to Tornado Cash.
The Kronos Research exploit occurred in November 2023 after hackers gained access to the firm’s API keys. On-chain investigator ZachXBT confirmed the attack, noting substantial Ether outflows from a linked wallet.
It was later discovered that the attackers used stolen API keys to pull off the breach. ZachXBT revealed that around 12,800 Ether, valued at $25 million, was stolen and split among six crypto wallets.
Kronos Capital halted trading services to investigate the theft but never recovered the funds. These funds stayed dormant for six months until the hacker began moving them to Tornado Cash on May 7.
Despite exploits in crypto space becoming a norm, recent reports indicate a decline in such attacks . In April, crypto thefts dropped 67% from March, and March saw a 50% decrease in losses due to exploits compared to February.
