In March of this year, suspected North Korean government hackers stole more than $600 million in ether from hyped-up play-to-earn game Axie Infinity in one of the largest crypto hacks in history. The hackers then sent a part of the proceedings ($100 million at the time) through the Tornado Cash, a so-called mixing service designed to obscure the origin of funds. That was a very predictable move, as Tornado Cash has become extremely popular among hackers and crypto thieves. Tornado Cash is a protocol that allows users to send in some cryptocurrency using their own wallets and get it back via different addresses. Its code is designed to mix a user’s crypto with a pool of other Tornado Cash’s users’ crypto in a smart contract, making it harder—if not impossible—to track. The service’s official site claims that users have deposited more than 3.2 million ETH (roughly $3.5 billion) in the service since it was launched in August of 2019.
Read more : Tornado Cash Is Crypto Hackers’ Favorite Way to Cash Out, But Experts Say It Can Be Traced.