WazirX Hacker Awakens For First Time Since $235M Hack

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The WazirX hacker moved $6.3M ETH to Tornado Cash yesterday. These are the first transactions from any of the hacker’s addresses in 1.5 months since the hack occurred.

The use of Tornado Cash is a significant development. As a decentralized privacy mixer, it is specifically designed to obscure the on-chain trail of transactions, making it a common tool for launderers. This move, after a long period of inactivity, signals the hacker is now actively attempting to break the link between their identity and the stolen funds.

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The ETH deposited to Tornado Cash was almost the entire balance of the hacker’s address 0x668 which now has only $153K ETH left over. 0x668 received all of its ETH holdings from two other wallets which sold stolen altcoins for ETH.

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As of 3rd September, the WazirX hacker still holds $154.27M in ETH, acquired with funds stolen from WazirX.

This $6.3M transfer, while substantial, represents only a small fraction of the total funds compromised. The fact that the hacker still controls over $154M highlights the immense scale of the security breach. This initial move through Tornado Cash is likely a test or the start of a much longer process to launder the entire haul.

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The WazirX hack happened on July 18th and resulted in over $235M of losses for the exchange, which was once India’s largest exchange by volume. 

Arkham’s Balance History Graph credited WazirX holdings as totalling $380M the day prior to the incident, with that number falling to only $148M after the exchange was compromised.

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