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Finance

Cash From 2021 DAO Maker Crypto Hack Being Mixed Through Tornado Cash

$500,000 worth of the dai stablecoin, stolen last year, is being sent through the notorious mixer.

By Sam Reynolds
AccessTimeIconSep 9, 2022 at 6:26 a.m. UTC
Updated May 11, 2023 at 4:25 p.m. UTC
(National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration)
(National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration)

Crypto mixer Tornado Cash once again finds itself as the nexus of stolen tokens from a decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol, as PeckShield has spotted $500,000 of dai (DAI) moving through its pipes.

  • Crypto mixers are protocols that obscure the destination of tokens making them harder to track.
  • In August 2021, crypto fundraising platform DAO Maker (not related to Maker DAO) suffered a hack that resulted in the loss of $7 million in various stablecoins and ether (ETH).
  • Immediately after the 2021 hack, on-chain data shows the funds were sent to two wallets.
  • One of the wallets sent approximately 3,800 ether ($6.2 million) to Tornado Cash.
  • The other wallet, which held the balance, remained dormant until today, according to on-chain data.
  • Earlier this year Tornado Cash was used to mix $15 million in ether, stolen from Singapore-based Crypto.com.
  • Tornado Cash’s frequent nexus to stolen funds triggered a debate if its complicit in money laundering, with its founder saying that the protocol isn’t controlled by any single entity and is designed to be unstoppable.
  • In August, the U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned Tornado Cash prohibiting all U.S. persons and entities from interacting with the protocol.

Separately, Coinbase (COIN) is sponsoring a lawsuit to try to get the protocol removed from OFAC’s list.

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CoinDesk is an award-winning media outlet that covers the cryptocurrency industry. Its journalists abide by a strict set of editorial policies. In November 2023, CoinDesk was acquired by the Bullish group, owner of Bullish, a regulated, digital assets exchange. The Bullish group is majority-owned by Block.one; both companies have interests in a variety of blockchain and digital asset businesses and significant holdings of digital assets, including bitcoin. CoinDesk operates as an independent subsidiary with an editorial committee to protect journalistic independence. CoinDesk employees, including journalists, may receive options in the Bullish group as part of their compensation.