Exploiters who hacked Heco Bridge laundered the stolen assets through the controversial cryptocurrency mixer Tornado Cash.
Hackers behind the Heco exploit collectively laundered more than 40,000 Ethereum (ETH) worth $145.7 million, according to PeckShieldAlert.
“As of today (22 Mar. 2024, UTC), HECOBridge exploiters – labeled addresses – have transferred ~$40,391.8 ETH (equivalent to ~$145.7m) to TornadoCash within the last eight days.”
PeckShieldAlert team
The Heco Bridge hack in November 2023 resulted in a loss of approximately $111 million per day of the hack. $86.6 million was withdrawn from the Heco Bridge service. The withdrawn amount was instantly sent to decentralized trading platforms and transferred into various tokens.
In addition, analysts recorded suspicious findings from the HTX cryptocurrency exchange. According to experts, $23.4 million was withdrawn from the trading platform, while the transaction pattern is identical to the Heco Bridge hack. The HTX exchange has temporarily suspended withdrawals.
In addition to the Heco Bridge exploiters, North Korean hackers from the Lazarus group recently allegedly transferred ETH to BlackRock through Tornado Cash. Blockchain researchers have identified the address of a crypto wallet on the Ethereum network owned by BlackRock. This operation is indicated in internal transactions because it was performed using a smart contract.
The U.S. authorities banned Tornado Cash in 2022 and introduced sanctions against the service, as it is used for money laundering. Digital assets in the BlackRock wallet refer to the savings of the investment fund, the BlackRock USD Institutional Digital Liquidity Fund.
