Poloniex Hackers Have Begun to Move Some of the Stolen $120 Million

The hackers behind the massive Poloniex attack last November have begun making the first transfers, signaling that they’re preparing to somehow cash in or at least obscure the trail of the stolen funds.

The Poloniex hack was one of the largest recorded in 2023. Criminals stole $120 million from Poloniex, a centralized crypto exchange used to convert funds from one cryptocurrency to another.

After the attack, the attackers waited and only now have started to attempt to move the funds and ultimately launder them. According to a Coindesk report, the hackers sent 1,100 ether (ETH) (roughly $3.3 million) in multiple batches to Tornado Cash.

Tornado Cash is a coin mixer service designed to hide the source of the cryptocurrency used to launder funds stolen by Lazarus Group, a North Korean threat. This is one reason the Lazarus Group is also suspected of the Poloniex attack.

The hackers also transferred 501 bitcoin (BTC) (about $32 million) to an unlabeled wallet on April 30. Despite these transfers, $181 million from the original heist remains in various blockchains.

Two Tornado Cash founders were charged with money laundering in 2023, but the service continues to operate.

“Roman Storm and Roman Semenov allegedly operated Tornado Cash and knowingly facilitated this money laundering.  While publicly claiming to offer a technically sophisticated privacy service, Storm and Semenov in fact knew that they were helping hackers and fraudsters conceal the fruits of their crimes,” said US Attorney Damian Williams.

Both founders are Russian nationals, and their whereabouts are unknown.