Orbit Chain Hacker Goes Online, Moves $48M Through Tornado Cash

• Hackers are moving funds stolen from Orbit Chain.
• They laundered millions through Tornado Cash.
• The timing coincides with Orbit Chain’s recent comeback. 

Earlier this year, hackers attacked Orbit Bridge , a bridging service for the cross-chain protocol Orbit Chain, and successfully siphoned off $48 million, marking it as one of the biggest hacks of the year. After months of silence, the exploiter is back online and on the run. 

Orbit Chain Exploiter Moving Hot

For months, Orbit Bridge hackers’ $48 million stash, which was worth $121 million at press time, remained untouched until Saturday, when they sprang into action, moving funds to the Ethereum-based mixing service Tornado Cash, as noted by Akham Intelligence . 

On-chain data showed that the hackers transferred nearly 13,000 ether–valued at roughly $50 million–to a new wallet before washing it through Tornado Cash to hide their tracks. The exploiter still held $71 million in Ether and DAI stablecoins at press time. 

It is unclear why the hacker is back online. However, the timing coincides with the protocol’s recent decision to resume some of its bridging services following the exploit.

Adding to the complexity, Orbit Chain has yet to provide a clear explanation for the hack. Despite the exploit, the protocol maintained that, to the best of its knowledge, the incident was not caused by a vulnerability in the Orbit Bridge smart contract or the theft of a validator key.

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On the Flipside

• Orbit Chain suspects its former Chief Information Security Officer is behind the attack.
• The crypto industry incurred $336 million in losses due to hacks and scams during Q1 2024. 

Why This Matters

Now that the assets have been through Tornado Cash, it’s difficult to assess whether users will receive funds from the Orbit Chain exploit.

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