NEW YORK – In an event that highlights the wild and ironic side of the DeFi world, the hacker behind the $12 million theft from Cork Protocol last May has resurfaced. The hacker was detected moving millions of dollars of his stolen funds, and in the process, he actually gave a 'tip' to the developers of the tools he used to cover his tracks.
On Wednesday, on-chain analysis showed that the hacker's wallet address from Cork Protocol moved thousands of Ethereum (ETH) coins to Tornado Cash, a popular crypto mixer service to obscure the origins of funds. This move is a classic attempt to launder money from cybercrime.
However, what makes this event remarkable is a small accompanying transaction. Amid the money laundering process, the hacker sent a donation of 10 ETH (worth about $24,000) to a legal defense fund intended for Roman Storm and Alexey Pertsev. Both are developers of Tornado Cash who currently face heavy legal charges in the United States and the Netherlands for allegedly facilitating money laundering.
This action is viewed by the crypto community as a very bold yet cynical step. The hacker seems to openly thank and financially support the creators of the tools that enabled him to escape with the stolen money. This event reignited intense debate about privacy tools in the crypto world—are they neutral tools for financial freedom or rather the main facilitators of illegal activities.