YEREVAN (CoinChapter.com) — The WazirX hacker behind the $235 million exploit moved almost $150 million value of altcoins to Ether. Blockchain analytics agency Spot On Chain reported that the hacker transformed $90.2 million of Shiba Inu (SHIB), and $7.5 million in Pepe (PEPE), $10.2 million in Polygon (MATIC) to Ether (ETH) between July 18 and 19.
These transfers elevated the entire quantity of stolen funds in Ether to $201 million, up from $52 million initially.
Hacker Converts Tokens to Ether to Keep away from Blacklisting
In accordance with Spot On Chain, the hacker probably moved ERC-20 tokens to Ether as a result of it’s extra liquid and can’t be blacklisted.
“Some ERC-20 tokens have a contract function to blacklist addresses, while the ETH native token does not,”
the agency defined.
Swapping to Ether shortly helps safe the funds earlier than authorities or token issuers can take preventative measures. Moreover, blockchain safety agency PeckShield famous that Ether is simpler to launder by means of cryptocurrency exchanges and mixer protocols, and its price is extra secure.
SHIB Drops 7% After WazirX Hack, Hacker Holds $12M in Altcoins
The hack triggered a selloff in SHIB, which fell almost 7% for the reason that incident. In distinction, Ether’s price solely dropped by 0.1%. The Wazirx hacker nonetheless holds round $12 million value of Chromia (CHR), Celer Community (CELR), Frontier (FRONT), and Ooki (OOKI) tokens, in accordance with Spot On Chain’s X submit.
WazirX Battles to Get better $230M After Cyber Assault
The Indian-based cryptocurrency alternate halted withdrawals on July 18 following the breach, which worn out almost half of its reserves. In accordance with WazirX’s June proof-of-reserves assertion, the alternate is working to get well the stolen funds.
“This is a force majeure event beyond our control, but we are leaving no stone unturned to locate and recover the funds,”
WazirX posted on X. The alternate has already blocked just a few deposits and reached out to involved wallets for restoration.
Notably, blockchain forensics agency Elliptic advised that particular patterns and methods used within the WazirX hack recommend North Korean hackers could be behind the $235 million hack. Furthermore, the investigation continues as WazirX collaborates with authorities and safety corporations to hint and get well the stolen belongings.