Key Takeaways:
- Harmony Protocol Hackers are laundering parts of the stolen funds via Tornado Cash Mixer
- Days earlier, hackers had stolen $100M in various altcoins from the protocol's Horizon Bridge
- At the time of writing, hackers had laundered $36 million in stolen funds
YEREVAN (CoinChapter.com) — The hackers behind the recent exploit of Harmony Protocol’s Horizon bridge are now laundering parts of the stolen funds via the Tornado Cash mixer router.
Losses from the June 24 hack amounted to $100 million. The stolen funds were reportedly in stablecoins such as Tether (USDT), USD Coin (USDC), Wrapped Ethereum (WETH), AAVE, SUSHI, and DAI. The hackers then swapped them for Ethereum.
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Harmony Protocol Hackers conceal tracks
According to Etherscan data, the attackers made multiple transactions to conceal the tracks of the stolen funds.
As PeckShiled reported on Twitter, they made two transfers of over 6,000 ETH ($7 million) and another transfer of 18,000 ETH ($22 million) before sending them in smaller installments to the mixer.
Harmony Protocol hackers have now transferred 30,000 ETH or over $36 million. But unfortunately, that means they still hold $64 million of the stolen funds.
However, people believe it won’t be long before the entire funds are lost for good.
“Most likely the rest of the funds will follow soon and be completely gone in about 4-5 days,”
one investor wrote on Reddit.
Tornado Cash Mixer is a decentralized Ethereum smart contract that breaks the traceability transactions on the blockchain. It helps transfer funds into multiple wallets by breaking them into smaller amounts.
While this provides privacy to the blockchain, people have sometimes used it for illicit activities.
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Hackers turn down $1M bounty offer
Following the exploit, the team behind Harmony Protocol offered a $1 million reward for the return of $100 million in stolen altcoins. The offer also stood for information that would help recover the lost funds.
In addition, they also promised not to pursue legal action and “will advocate for no criminal charges” if the hackers return the funds.
However, despite the appeals, the Harmony Protocol hackers have opted to keep the $100 million.
Meanwhile, it remains to be seen if they can get away with it. However, harmony protocol is already working with state agencies to capture the culprits.
“We are aware the hacker has begun to move funds through Tornado Cash. The team is working with two highly reputable blockchain tracing and analysis partners, and collaborating with the FBI as part of an investigation into this criminal act,”
Harmony protocol announced.
Earlier this year, the US Department of Justice (DOJ) seized $3.6 billion tied to a 2016 hack of crypto exchange Bitfinex. The DOJ also charged married couple Ilya Lichtenstein and Heather Morgan in connection to the heist.
Will the Harmony Protocol Hackers join them in jail? Time will show.
