Kronos Research Heist Perpetrator Moves Additional $2.6M in Ether Amid Price Surge
Summary:
The perpetrator behind the $25 million Kronos Research heist has moved an additional $2.6 million in Ether to the cryptocurrency anonymizing service Tornado Cash. This comes following a series of transactions from the perpetrator's wallet, totaling in 1,000 Ether (over $3.7 million). The suspected laundering of funds coincides with a surge in Ether's price following the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's revised stance on Ether ETFs. Tornado Cash, which obscures the path of cryptocurrency transactions, was also the recipient of funds from this offender earlier this month. The breach of Kronos Capital in November 2023 led to the theft of around 12,800 ETH, after which the firm suspended its trading services to investigate.
The individual responsible for the Kronos Research heist valued at $25 million has funneled an additional $2.6 million in Ether into Tornado Cash, a service used for anonymizing cryptocurrency. According to PeckShield, a firm specializing in on-chain security, the primary offender moved 700 Ether from wallet “0x3” on May 21. This follows sequential transfers from this wallet: three transactions each valued at 100 Ether on May 20 and seven similar transactions on May 21, making a total of 1,000 Ether - equivalent to a little over $3.7 million at the current rate. Even after such significant transactions, the wallet in question retains more than 60 ETH, more than $223,000 in today's valuation. Based on data from CoinStats, the wallet peaked at more than $6.4 million on May 19. Likely spurred by Ether's price surge, the offender initiated the funds cleaning process. Notably, within the last 24 hours, Ether witnessed a 20% increase in price, trading at $3,744 as of 11:14 am UTC. The last time Ether surpassed the $3,700 mark was on March 15, as per CoinMarketCap. The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) reversing its stance on Ether ETFs is believed to have set off the Ether hot streak. This change in decision may be driven by political pressure, as SEC has reportedly requested the ETF exchanges to revise their writeups. As a positive influence on investors, senior analyst Eric Balchunas from Bloomberg ETF has elevated the likelihood of approval from 25% to 75%. Tornado Cash is among the crypto mixing platforms used to conceal the route of crypto transactions, making it tougher to identify the origin of funds. This renders these services beneficial for those who wish to obscure the source of illegal crypto. The offender behind the Kronos Research exploitation had last moved funds on May 7, transferring over 1314 Ether, or over $4 million to Tornado Cash. During November 2023, Kronos Capital was compromised after intruders hijacked the company's API keys. Initially, the company denied any losses. On-chain investigator ZachXBT later disclosed that approximately 12,800 ETH, or $25 million, were siphoned off and distributed across six different crypto wallets. Following this revelation, Kronos Capital put a halt on its trading services to run a thorough investigation into the losses.
Published At
5/21/2024 3:03:24 PM
Disclaimer: Algoine does not endorse any content or product on this page. Readers should conduct their own research before taking any actions related to the asset, company, or any information in this article and assume full responsibility for their decisions. This article should not be considered as investment advice. Our news is prepared with AI support.
Do you suspect this content may be misleading, incomplete, or inappropriate in any way, requiring modification or removal?
We appreciate your report.