The hackers who attacked Nomad Bridge found themselves in a favorable position as they could easily buy Ethereum ($ETH) at the lowest market price. According to Lookonchain, the hacker invested 39.75 million DAI to buy 16,892 ETH and sent it to the cryptocurrency mixer Tornado Cash, which was seen as a large-scale operation.
Nomad Bridge Vulnerability
In August 2022, the digital asset bridge Nomad Bridge, which supports cross-chain transactions of assets, was attacked and lost nearly $200 million. The attack was due to a weakness in the bridge’s smart contract that allowed unauthorized withdrawal of funds.
The weakness allowed the hackers to evade various checks and authentication that should have prevented them from accessing and withdrawing cryptocurrency. The hackers did this by introducing transactions that should have been rejected by the contract and instead went through the bridge.
Nearly two hours ago, they injected US dollars into Ethereum, purchasing $16,892 of ETH for $39.75 million of DAI. This was done after a significant drop in market prices, meaning the hackers were able to buy Ethereum at a lower price. The purchased Ethereum was then mixed with the Tornado Cash service, which is used to anonymize the source and destination of the cryptocurrency.
The hacker's latest activity has drawn responses from members of the cryptocurrency world. Some believe it is a smart decision in terms of financial strategy, while others raise concerns from a more nefarious perspective. The process of using Tornado Cash complicates tracing the final recipient as transactions are more anonymous. Despite the fact that Tornado is subject to U.S. sanctions, it is still widely used by bad actors to hide their cryptocurrency trail.
