TempleDAO attacker moves stolen funds via now-sanctioned Tornado Cash

According to recent data from Etherscan, the hacker of TempleDAO, a protocol that advertises that it offers sustainable income through staking, moved stolen money using the recently-sanctioned cryptocurrency mixer Tornado Cash.

A hacker stole 1,830 ETH, or roughly $2.3 million, earlier this month after breaching one of the staking vaults of TempleDAO.

A roughly equivalent amount of ETH was transferred from an address that has been linked to the TempleDAO hacker to a Tornado Cash router, according to the blockchain data company Peckshield. 

The @templedao exploiter is starting to move funds via @TornadoCash https://t.co/UOl3RJjExq pic.twitter.com/SReMSq573P

— PeckShield Inc. (@peckshield) October 16, 2022

Renowned security company BlockSec identified that the protocol’s smart contract’s migrateStake function’s lack of adequate access control was the main contributor to the hack.

With the help of the crypto-mixing service Tornado Cash, users can hide transactional information. The United States Treasury Department imposed sanctions on the mixer and 44 related Ethereum and USDC wallets in August, as TheCoinRise reported.

Treasury cited its connection to well-known cyberattacks like the Harmony and Ronin exposures. It specifically claimed that the Lazarus Group of North Korea was the beneficiary of these hacks and accused the mixer of money laundering for the group to the tune of $455 million.

TempleDAO hack amid the flood of breaches

This most recent TempleDAO hack development comes after a significant month of hacks in the crypto industry. According to data from Chainalysis, which was quoted in a study published recently by TheCoinRise, October is already the month with the most cryptocurrency funds stolen.

As per data, 11 cyberattacks with a total value of $718 million have taken place so far this month, making it the month with the most steals in a year that is likely to surpass the $3 billion that was stolen in 2021. These include the recent hack of Binance’s BNB cross-chain bridge, which resulted in a loss of $100 million, and the $114 million attack on Mango Markets last Monday.