Hacker Behind Cork Protocol Exploit Transfers Funds

The hacker responsible for a $12 million exploit on Cork Protocol has routed $11 million in stolen ether (ETH) through Tornado Cash, contributing $24,000 to the legal fund of the crypto mixer’s founder.

Crypto security firm PeckShield reported that the hacker has sent 4,520 ETH to Tornado Cash to date. Most recently, they transferred 1,410 ETH, valued at nearly $3.4 million, to the mixer.

Donations to Legal Fund

Additionally, the Cork Protocol attacker donated 10 ETH (over $24,000) to the legal defense fund established by Roman Storm, who faces prosecution in the U.S. Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin also contributed $500,000 to the fund via the Ethereum Foundation, which pledged to match up to $750,000 in public donations, including those from the hacker.

As of now, the fund has raised $722,793 towards its $2 million goal, with slightly over $1.2 million still needed.

Access Control Vulnerability

The Cork Protocol exploit was made possible through an undetected access control vulnerability during audits. The Cork team attempted to contact the hacker earlier this week but has still seen continued fund deposits into Tornado Cash.

Tornado Cash Co-founder’s Appeal

In a related situation in Amsterdam, Tornado Cash co-founder Alexey Perstev intends to appeal his conviction for money laundering. Bitcoin Core developer Sjors Provoost attended the appeal hearing and disclosed that the defense is questioning the evidence’s reliability, particularly focusing on specific transactions related to the hack and their tracing back through Tornado Cash.

To bolster their case, the defense seeks governmental access to Chainalysis’s software to track crypto transactions. Provoost noted their request followed receiving incomplete transactional data, lacking crucial identifiers like transaction hashes.