THORChain, a decentralized protocol for cross-chain crypto swaps, was used by hackers who stole $1.4 billion in Ethereum from Bybit. After swapping the funds, 20% went dark and became untraceable. Bybit CEO Ben Zhou confirmed that tracking these funds is now difficult.
According to Ben Zhou, CEO of Bybit, in his latest update on Twitter, a significant portion of the stolen funds—around 83%, or 417,348 ETH (about $1 billion)—was converted into Bitcoin with 6,954 wallets.
According to Zhou, 77% of the hacked funds remain trackable, but 20% have gone dark and 3% are frozen. He reported that ExCH led to 79,655 ETH (~16%) becoming untraceable as well as 40,233 ETH (~8%) disappearing through OKX’s Web3 proxy.
Zhou emphasized that the current week represents a crucial time for fund freezing since the stolen assets start to clear through various platforms, including exchanges and OTC and P2P channels. The massive increase in THORChain activity stems entirely from the hackers who utilized the platform to wash their stolen funds.
THORChain reached its highest trading volume ever during the week ending March 2 when it processed $4.66 billion in swaps that exceeded $1 billion on Sunday alone. The massive surge in platform activity resulted in significant fees for THORChain because the hackers used it to wash the stolen funds, which produced over $5.5 million in handling fees.
Crypto enthusiasts closely follow exchange teams and blockchain analysts who track and freeze additional stolen funds.
Also Read: THORChain Faces Backlash as Bybit Hacker Moves 50% of Stolen Funds