By Alicia Maher
Those behind the 2020 heist on Pickle Finance are said to have now laundered some 1,800 units of Ethereum. The laundered stash of coins is said to be worth some $4.68 million as they got a rate of $2,600 via the Tornado Cash mixer. With regards to information shared by the PeckShieldAlert, the assets were laundered in the early hours of Sunday in gradual batches of about 100 Ethereum each.
Pickle Finance Lost $20 Million Worth of Digital Assets in the Heist
As reported, the laundered Ethereum via Tornado is a portion of some $20 million in digital assets that were robbed off Pickle Finance in the course of November 2020. As recorded in the official statement following the attack, up to 19,759,355 DAI were stolen. It simply implies that the hackers have been able to convert the assets into Ethereum over the years.
The conversion to Ethereum was done in order to cover their tracks and veil the movement of the assets that were stolen. However, crypto investigators have been able to uncover some of the tracks the stolen assets followed.
Tornado Cash, the Favorite Means of Laundering Hackers Keep Using for Ethereum
The hackers that attacked Pickle Finance are just part of an increasing number of individuals or teams of people who use Tornado Cash Ethereum mixers to clean up their loot. Lazarus, a group of hackers alleged to be sponsored by the North Korean government, has been caught in the act many times using Tornado Cash. Lazarus often launders what they stole from Axie Infinity and Ronin Network on the platform.
In addition, the hackers involved in the 2017 Parity Multisig heist have also been flagged for laundering up to 9,000 Ethereum tokens to the tune of $25.5 million. The laundering activity was also carried out on the Ethereum Tornado Cash mixer.
Now, Crypto Mixers have drawn the attention of the Office of Foreign Assets Control under the US Department of Treasury. At first, the Office of Foreign Assets Control imposed a sanction on the popular Bitcoin mixer platform, Blender.io. The sanction was in punishment for the firm’s aiding illegal transactions that were threatening the United States.
The Office equally alleged that Blender.io aided Lazarus, the North Korean group of hackers, to launder stolen assets. The OFAC is now closely watching other mixers and all activities carried out on their various platforms.