Hackers have stolen an astonishing $35 million from Atomic Wallet using a sophisticated method involving the cross-chain liquidity protocol, THORChain. The theft was discovered by blockchain investigator MistTrack.
For example:
According to @MistTrack_io monitoring, the hacker address (0xad3c…1e44) transferred 503.08 $ETH to @THORChain in the last two days and swap for $BTC, then bridged to the BTC address (bc1q…k2xm). pic.twitter.com/Y0N7uptxg7
— MistTrack🕵️ (@MistTrack_io) June 20, 2023
MistTrack’s investigation reveals that a large amount of the stolen funds, totaling 503.08 ether (ETH) valued at around $870,000, was funneled into THORChain over the past two days. The hackers then converted the stolen ether into bitcoin (BTC) by smoothly swapping the currencies.
To hide their tracks, the hackers used the Swift blockchain to transfer some of the stolen ether to multiple Bitcoin addresses, as disclosed by MistTrack.
In a surprising turn of events, the hackers sent a portion of the stolen money to Garantex, a cryptocurrency exchange. It is worth noting that Garantex has previously faced sanctions from the U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) in April.
Blockchain security firm Elliptic suggests that Lazarus, a well-known North Korean hacking group, is responsible for this audacious attack. The evidence points to their involvement in orchestrating this sophisticated heist.
Interestingly, despite the hack and subsequent transactions, THORChain’s native token (THOR) has remained stable. It is currently trading at 84 cents, showing a slight increase in the past 24 hours.
This news has sent shockwaves throughout the crypto community, highlighting the urgent need for enhanced security measures to protect digital assets from such brazen attacks.
Compiled by Coinbold
