WazirX Exploiter Resumes Sales, Moves 5,000 ETH ($11M) to Tornado Cash

The exploiter of the Indian cryptocurrency exchange WazirX has resumed sales of the stolen assets this week after a similar trend in the past week. PeckShieldAlert, a blockchain security firm, revealed on X that the hackers moved a staggering 5,001 ETH ($11 million) to a new address while gradually exchanging it for Tornado cash on Monday.

Per on-chain data, approximately $11 million worth of Ether at the current market price was wired to address “0x93… 34c2” at 07:19 UTC. At the time of writing, the wallet had laundered 3,000 ETH ($6.2 million) in over 30 transactions.

The latest development followed a series of Ethereum sales on Monday. On-chain analysis revealed that the Ethereum Foundation sold 500 ETH, resuming last week’s spree. These sales have significantly impacted Ethereum’s price, as the assetwazirx-exploiter-resumes-sales-moves-5000-eth-11m-to-tornado-cash has slumped over 7% in the past seven days.wazirx-exploiter-resumes-sales-moves-5000-eth-11m-to-tornado-cash

WazirX Sees Fresh Setback

In July, WazirX suffered a security breach, resulting in the loss of over $234.9 million in funds from the firm’s multi-signature wallet. WazirX lost about 51% of its assets, as on-chain data revealed that the exchange held $451 million before the exploit. 

The second sale from the hacker in two weeks further dashed WazirX’s hopes of recovering its looted assets in full. With 7,600 ETH now laundered, the hacker has cashed in on 14% of his Ethereum holdings. Notably, the exchange dedicated $12 million to facilitate the recovery of the stolen funds. It also contacted several exchanges and on-chain tracking agencies to ensure the quest made reasonable progress.

The hacker still holds 49,154 ETH ($111 million), 78.6 million CELO ($850,000), 556.5 million OOKI ($696,271), 956,426 FRONT ($636,358), and 4.2 million LOOM ($185,005).

Tornado Cash Flooded with Stolen Crypto

Meanwhile, the WazirX exploiter’s actions are part of the larger trend of stolen fund laundering. According to Lookonchain, three hackers deposited a total of 17,800 ETH worth $42.7 million into Tornado Cash between Wednesday and Friday last week.

Notably, the WazirX hacker was among the notable names who participated in the transaction last week, along with the Penpie exploiter and the hacker who stole $42 million in assets from Fenbushi Capital founder Shen Bo.

The surge in illicit activities highlights the need for increased security measures and precautions to protect investors’ assets from potential threats in cryptocurrency. Nevertheless, prosecutors have continued their push to convict Tornado cash developers.