North Korean Hackers Move $11 Million in Stolen Ether to Tornado Cash

• North Korean hackers moved $11M ETH to Tornado Cash, spotlighting crypto security issues.
• WazirX lost 45% of holdings in a July hack, prompting restructuring and security upgrades.
• Tornado Cash use by hackers raises concerns over crypto money laundering risks.

North Korean hackers have reportedly moved $11 million worth of stolen Ether (ETH) to Tornado Cash, a cryptocurrency mixing service known for obfuscating the origins of funds. 

The transfer, which took place early Monday, is part of a broader scheme linked to a July hack that drained over $150 million from the Indian cryptocurrency exchange, WazirX. 

The hack, which targeted a multi-signature wallet, resulted in significant losses, including $100 million in SHIB tokens and $52 million in Ether.

The blockchain intelligence firm Arkham Intelligence revealed that the stolen funds were transferred to a new address at 07:19 UTC before being moved to Tornado Cash. In addition to the initial $11 million in Ether, the hacker also distributed an additional $1.2 million across five separate transactions to the same platform. 

While Tornado Cash is a legitimate service, criminal entities frequently use it to launder money, making it difficult for authorities to trace the origins of stolen assets.

The July hack profoundly impacted WazirX, one of India’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges. As reported in June 2024, the stolen assets represented over 45% of the exchange’s total holdings. 

As a result, WazirX has demerged into a new company to tackle the financial deficit and regain the trust of users and investors. Some of the measures that the exchange has taken are to strengthen security to avoid the occurrence of more breaches and deal with the legal implications of the attack.

It also shows that the crypto industry still has a long way to go in fighting against money laundering and securing the digital assets from the threat of hackers.

This has raised debate in the cryptocurrency space with Coindcx CEO Sumit Gupta expressing his dissatisfaction at how WazirX has handled the situation. The author also highlighted Gupta’s concerns regarding exchange’s decisions to shift much of the losses to its clients, which is a critical issue of the role of exchanges in protecting investors.