EraLend

Euler Finance Exploiter Deposits $1.8 Million In Tornado Cash, Sends 100 ETH To Victim

Summary:

  • The Euler Finance attacker moved around 1,100 Ether from their address to sanctioned Ethereum-based crypto mixer Tornado Cash, on-chain data aggregated by BlockSec showed.
  • Euler lost $197 million in digital assets after suffering a flash loan attack on Monday, Mar. 13.
  • The DeFi lender offered the attacker a $19.7 million bug bounty if they returned 90% of the funds to users.
  • One victim received 100 ETH back from the exploiter after sending a message pleading for the assets to be returned

The hacker who exploited decentralized finance (DeFi) lender Euler Finance sent 1,100 ETH from the stolen loot to U.S.-sanctioned crypto mixer Tornado Cash. The transactions were made in the early hours of Thursday, three days after the initial exploit on Monday, Mar. 13.

Data collected by on-chain security outfit BlockSec showed that Euler lost around $197 million in digital assets on Monday after suffering a flash loan attack. The exploiter made off with an assortment of cryptocurrencies including staked Ether (stETH), USDC, wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC), and DAI stablecoin tokens.

Euler offered 10% of the funds, worth $19.7 million, as a bug bounty on the terms that the exploiter returned 90% of the assets to the DeFi lender and users. It’s not clear if Thurday’s transfer to Tornado Cash indicates that the hacker plans to return the funds.

Indeed, it’s common for DeFi hackers and crypto criminals to deposit stolen digital assets in crypto mixers like Tornado Cash. Industry observers like Chainalysis have opined that hackers use this strategy to mask the origin of their funds and throw off law enforcement.

Euler Finance Victim Receives Stolens Funds And Then Some

In an odd turn of events, one Euler Finance victim recover their funds from the attacker after reaching out to the unidentified exploiter. On-chain data showed that a victim sent a message to the hacker, saying their life savings was held on Euler Finance.

While the victim claimed they had 78 wrapped staked ether (wstETH) worth $140,000 on the platform, the hacker shockingly returned $165,000 in ETH to the victim.

It’s not the first time an individual has reached out to a crypto hacker in an attempt to communicate. A community member sent advice to the FTX hacker on how to launder their stolen funds and which crypto mixers were more suitable for the job.