Wallet Linked to Drift Exploit Sends $61 Million in Ethereum to Tornado Cash
The North Korea-linked attacker behind April's $295 million Drift heist pushed 25,700 ETH through the mixer in two hours, and still controls roughly $198 million more.
A wallet linked to the April exploit of decentralized derivatives platform Drift has transferred approximately $61 million worth of Ethereum to Tornado Cash, the cryptocurrency mixing service. According to on-chain data, the attacker moved 25,700 ETH through the mixer within a two-hour window. The threat actor has been attributed to North Korea-linked hacking operations, and analysts estimate the wallet still holds roughly $198 million in remaining assets from the original heist.
The April attack on Drift resulted in losses totaling approximately $295 million, making it one of the largest decentralized finance exploits of the year. North Korea-affiliated groups, including those operating under the Lazarus umbrella, have become increasingly prominent in large-scale cryptocurrency theft, with stolen funds frequently routed through mixing protocols to obscure transaction trails and complicate recovery efforts by investigators and law enforcement agencies.
The movement of such a substantial volume of ETH through Tornado Cash raises fresh concerns about the continued utility of mixing services as a laundering mechanism, despite the U.S. Treasury's sanctions against the protocol in 2022. The incident underscores the persistent challenges facing the DeFi sector in preventing and responding to state-sponsored attacks, as well as the limitations of existing regulatory frameworks in deterring sophisticated actors.
With nearly $198 million still under the attacker's control, blockchain security firms and relevant authorities are expected to continue monitoring associated wallet addresses for further fund movements in the coming days.
Source: Decrypt
