By James Davis
The Wormhole hacker is back in action, transferring $46 million worth of stolen cryptocurrency from their wallet, according to on-chain analysis from PeckShield, a blockchain security firm. This marks a significant development in the aftermath of the Wormhole attack, which resulted in one of the largest cryptocurrency breaches of the year, with a loss of approximately $320 million worth of Wrapped ETH.
Hacker Continues to Liquidate Stolen Assets
The attack took place last February and is believed to have been a result of a vulnerability that was exploited after an update was made to the project’s GitHub repository. The news of the incident was first reported on February 2nd when the Wormhole account tweeted that the network was “down for maintenance” while an exploit was being investigated.
The recent movement of stolen assets raises new concerns about the safety and security of cryptocurrency holdings. PeckShield’s analysis shows that the hacker has liquidated approximately $41 million worth of Ethereum staking tokens by transferring them to MakerDAO through Lido Finance. In addition, the hacker transferred $5 million in the form of 3,000 rETH from Rocket Pool to MakerDAO.
The stolen assets were then sold for approximately 16.6 million DAI stablecoin, indicating that the hacker is seeking to either profit or take advantage of an arbitrage opportunity. The MakerDAO stablecoin was used to purchase 9,750 ETH worth $1,537 each and 1,000 stETH, which was then wrapped into 9,700 wstETH.
Need for Heightened Security Measures
This activity suggests that the hacker is trying to convert the stolen assets into other forms of cryptocurrency in order to make them harder to trace. The recent transfer of assets by the hacker, who moved $46 million worth of cryptocurrencies, comes on the heels of the transfer of over $155 million worth of Ethereum to a different exchange just a few weeks ago.
The Wormhole attack serves as a reminder of the need for heightened security measures in the cryptocurrency industry. It is important for exchanges, wallets, and individual investors to take the necessary steps to secure their digital assets and protect themselves against potential hacks and breaches. This can include implementing multi-factor authentication, using hardware wallets, and keeping software up-to-date.