- The hacker responsible for the Heco bridge exploit transferred 40,391.8 ether to Tornado Cash, a mixing platform.
- Onchain analysis by Peckshield reveals the movement of a substantial amount of ETH over eight days.
- The stolen assets, valued at $137 million, were part of the breach that occurred in November 2023.
- Tornado Cash, a popular mixing service, obscures the trace of onchain transactions.
- The Heco Chain, associated with HTX, Justin Sun, and Tron, faced scrutiny after the breach, with assurances from Sun regarding financial coverage.
- Prior to this incident, Poloniex, linked to Sun, experienced a significant theft, possibly orchestrated by the Lazarus Group.
Heco Bridge Exploiter Transfers Millions Worth of Ether to Tornado Cash
In a concerning development, the entity responsible for exploiting the Heco bridge, which connects Ethereum to the Heco blockchain, has transferred a substantial amount of Ethereum (ETH) to the mixing platform Tornado Cash. Onchain analysis provided by Peckshield indicates that over the course of eight days, the hacker moved precisely 40,391.8 ETH, valued at $137 million at current market rates.
The Breach and Subsequent Movements
The breach of the Heco bridge occurred in November 2023, resulting in the theft of millions in ETH. Following the exploit, the hacker swiftly moved a portion of the stolen funds to decentralized exchange (dex) platforms. However, recent activity suggests a significant transfer of assets to Tornado Cash, a mixing service renowned for obfuscating onchain transaction trails. This maneuver raises concerns about the potential laundering of the pilfered funds and the challenges in tracing such transactions.
Response and Implications
In response to the breach, Justin Sun, associated with the Heco Chain, publicly addressed the incident, offering assurances that any financial losses incurred would be covered. However, the incident casts a shadow over the security protocols of blockchain bridges and the broader implications for decentralized finance (DeFi) platforms. Moreover, this incident adds to the series of cyberattacks targeting cryptocurrency exchanges and blockchain networks, with the Lazarus Group being implicated in previous high-profile breaches.