Hacker moves 3,200 ETH through Tornado Cash, bridges $5.5 million

ZachXBT linked the funds to two private key leak incidents, saying the attacker used Circle's CCTP to move USDC across chains and route it to seven Arbitrum deposit addresses.

ETH
USDC
ARB

Summary

A hacker withdrew about 3,200 ETH from Tornado Cash between July 2 and 3 in activity ZachXBT tied to two private key leak incidents. The attacker then used Circle's CCTP (Cross-Chain Transfer Protocol) bridge to move about $5.5 million across blockchains and sent USDC to seven deposit addresses on Arbitrum. The flow suggests a coordinated laundering path, with privacy infrastructure and cross-chain transfers used to complicate tracing.

Terms & Concepts
  • Tornado Cash: A crypto mixer designed to obscure transaction trails.
  • CCTP: Circle's cross-chain transfer system for moving USDC between blockchains.
  • private key leak: Exposure of wallet credentials that can let attackers seize funds.