Address tied to Nomad Bridge exploit transfers $35 million in ether to Tornado Cash: PeckShield

An address associated with the exploitation of Nomad Bridge transferred 14,500 ether — worth roughly $35.2 million — of the stolen cryptocurrency to controversial crypto mixer Tornado Cash, according to blockchain security company PeckShield's alerts-focused account on X.

This suggests that the perpetrators of the attack are trying to obscure the origin of their funds, potentially in a move to cash them out.

The transfer follows another conducted on Aug. 5 — when the price of ether had dropped substantially by some 20%. At the time, 16,892 ether was purchased using funds connected to Nomad Bridge.

Nomad Bridge lost roughly $190 million in August 2022 after developers pushed a faulty software update that allowed anyone to drain funds from it. At the time, ethical hackers saved and returned more than $22 million. The bridge was restarted later that year.

Tornado Cash, meanwhile, is an open-source and non-custodial cryptocurrency mixer that makes tracking funds' sources significantly more difficult — something various regulators have deemed problematic and illegal. Most recently, Tornado Cash developer Alexey Pertsev was denied bail in the Netherlands after filing to appeal a prison sentence of five years and four months.

The price of ether is down 3.21% on the day, according to The Block's Ether Price Page.