Orbit Chain Hacker Moves $48 Million To Tornado Cash After Months Of Inactivity

The hacker behind the $82 million Orbit Chain exploit has moved around $48 million to cryptocurrency mixer Tornado Cash as they look to launder the funds.

Orbit Chain was exploited on New Year’s Eve in one of the year’s biggest hacks, and the funds remained dormant for over five months.

Orbit Chain Hacker Moves Funds

The hacker moved the funds after months of complete silence, during which the stolen funds remained untouched. According to data from blockchain analytics firm Arkham Intelligence, a total of 12,932 ETH worth around $47.7 million was moved in seven transactions on the 8th of June to a new address. The new address was used to send the stolen funds to cryptocurrency mixer Tornado Cash. According to reports, the hack caused losses of $82 million to Orbit Chain. However, Arkham Intelligence has suggested that the loss was greater, around $100 million. 

Arkham, which was the first to spot the transfer, stated in a post on X, 

“ONGOING: $100M Orbit Chain Exploiter sends $32M to Tornado Cash after five months silence In the past hour, the Orbit Chain Exploiter moved 8671 ETH ($32M) to a new address and is currently in the process of depositing it to Tornado Cash. They stole over $100M in ETH and DAI from Orbit Chain 5 months ago and have been silent since. They still hold over $66M in ETH and over $20M in DAI and USDT.”

Other Assets Remain Untouched

According to EtherScan, the $47.7 million was sent through the cryptocurrency mixer in batches of 100 ETH. However, the hacker has yet to move around $20 million worth of stolen DAI tokens and several other stolen coins during the exploit. The hacker’s balance now stands at $71.2 million. This includes $51.1 million in ETH and small amounts of wrapped Ether (wETH), wrapped Bitcoin (wBTC), USD Coin (USDC), and Orbit Chain (ORC). 

The Orbit Chain Hack And Growing Exploits

Orbit Chain was exploited during the final hours of 2023, at around 8:52 PM UTC on the 31st of December, 2023, to be more precise. Orbit Chain only confirmed the exploit the following day, adding that it was in contact with international law enforcement agencies. It also offered users a reward for providing any intelligence that would help identify the attacker. 

“We are actively engaging with international law enforcement agencies. Those who provide decisive intelligence that leads to identifying the attacker or recovering stolen assets will receive the bounty.”

Orbit Chain implements the Inter-Blockchain Communication Protocol (IBC) on the Cosmos ecosystem. According to DeFiLlama, it has a TVL(Total Value Locked) of $37 million, significantly lower than the $149 million before the hack. The threat from hackers has continued to grow in 2024, with around $542 million in crypto stolen during the year’s first quarter. This is a 42% increase from the same period in 2023. 

Disclaimer: This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.