t was reported that the Indian crypto exchange WazirX lost more than $230 million in users' assets to a hacker. The thief then started moving the cash through the Tornado Cash mixer. This development adds another layer of complexity in the effort to recover the lost assets and bring the culprits to justice.
The WazirX Hack and the Stolen Funds
In July, the hackers stole over $100 million in SHIB tokens and another $52 million in Ether among other tokens from WazirX. These siphoned funds comprised more than 45% of the cited total amount in the report presented by the exchange for June 2024 and are strongly reflected in the liquidity and prices of the listed tokens.
This theft of $230 million from the Indian cryptocurrency exchange WazirX has been attributed to the North Korean hacking group Lazarus. The hacker collective, known as Lazarus, is estimated to have laundered more than $1 billion in stolen funds through the cryptocurrency mixing service Tornado Cash prior to the sanctioning of the group by the US Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control in 2022.
Hacker Moves Funds Through Tornado Cash
The hacker, according to blockchain data tracked by Arkham, has started to move the $3.99 million worth of Ether through the Tornado Cash mixer.
Tornado Cash is a decentralized service that allows users to swap tokens while obscuring their wallet addresses – a tool used in high demand by criminals looking to launder cryptocurrency that was stolen.
The WazirX management subsequently filed for a restructuring process to clear its liabilities. According to legal advisers for the exchange, "the best-case scenario, customers will not be made whole in crypto terms and could expect 55-57% return of lost funds."
