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A crypto wallet address <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/heco-chain-bridge-hack-86-million-lost">linked to the HECO Chain exploiter</a> transferred and anonymized nearly 40,392 Ether (<a href="https://cointelegraph.com/ethereum-price">ETH</a>) on the crypto-mixing protocol Tornado Cash in eight days.
According to crypto investigator PeckShield, the HECO Chain exploiter made 19 outbound transfers to Tornado Cash addresses in an attempt to make approximately $145.7 million worth of stolen Ether nearly impossible to trace.
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 <img src="https://s3.cointelegraph.com/uploads/2024-03/9d148b9c-b739-4a80-8522-a815129fe2a8.jpeg" alt="" title="">
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 Source: <a href="https://twitter.com/PeckShieldAlert/status/1771094450288132397" target="_blank" rel="noopener nofollow">PeckShield</a>
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The majority of the funds were sent to a single Tornado Cash address, while one transaction of 0.2 ETH worth $699 was sent separately to a different address in Tornado Cash.
In its largest transaction, the HECO Chain exploiter sent 11,300 ETH worth roughly $39.5 million in one transfer. Crypto hackers often resort to routing their loot through Tornado Cash to anonymize the ownership of the funds. 
On March 21, an account linked to a $24 million Rocket Pool hack from September 2023 <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/hacker-moves-10-million-tornado-cash-phishing-incident">transferred 3,700 ETH to Tornado Cash</a> with the same intention.
<figure data-ct-non-breakable="true">
 <img src="https://s3.cointelegraph.com/uploads/2024-03/2f9af212-2c50-4b8b-9e4a-56d4361b8e80.jpg" alt="" title="">
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 Hacker transferring funds to Tornado Cash. Source: Etherscan
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According to crypto analytics firm Elliptic, hackers from North Korea’s Lazarus Group <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/lazarus-group-moves-12-million-htx-heco-hacks-tornado-cash">resumed using Tornado Cash to launder funds stolen</a> from hacks on March 13. 
<figure data-ct-non-breakable="true">
 <img src="https://s3.cointelegraph.com/uploads/2024-03/1ba8604c-5dc9-471f-8659-b84987cc2698.png" alt="" title="">
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 Flow of funds from HTX/HECO hacks to Tornado Cash. Source: Elliptic
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The <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/us-treasury-sanctions-usdc-and-eth-addresses-connected-to-tornado-cash">Tornado Cash protocol was sanctioned in August 2022</a> by the United States Treasury Department for its alleged role in allowing the laundering of over $1 billion in illicit funds, including money linked to the Lazarus Group.
Related: <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/blockchain-association-support-suit-lifting-tornado-cash-sanctions">Blockchain Association files support in suit to lift Tornado Cash sanctions</a>
Roman Storm, the co-founder of Tornado Cash, pleaded not guilty before a judge in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York in September 2023.
He, along with his alleged co-conspirator Roman Semenov, was&nbsp;<a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/tornado-cash-cofounder-pleads-not-guilty">charged with conspiracy to commit money laundering</a>, conspiracy to commit sanctions violations and conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money-transmitting business.
On March 10, the <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/arbitrum-dao-removes-proposal-fund-tornado-cash-devs">Arbitrum DAO removed a proposal</a> seeking to fund the legal defense costs of the Tornado Cash co-founders.&nbsp;According to an Arbitrum spokesperson, the proposal was later deleted at the author’s request:
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 “I can confirm that the forum was removed at the request of the author of the proposal.”
</blockquote>
The reasons underlying this modification remain unclear. Cointelegraph contacted DK — a pseudonymous delegate leading the initiative — for further clarity but did not receive a response.
Magazine: <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/magazine/bitcoin-etf-coinbase-honeypot-hackers-government-trezor-ceo/">Bitcoin ETFs make Coinbase a ‘honeypot’ for hackers and governments: Trezor CEO</a>

HECO Chain exploiter anonymizes $145M of Ether on Tornado Cash in 8 days

Cointelegraph

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