Drift exploiter moves $61 million in ETH through Tornado Cash
Funds tied to the April hack of Solana-based exchange Drift are moving again after weeks of inactivity. The wallet linked to the exploit sends 25,700 Ether to Tornado Cash while still holding roughly $194 million in ETH, underscoring the scale of one of 2026's largest crypto thefts.
Highlights
- A wallet linked to the Drift Protocol hack deposited about $61 million in Ether into Tornado Cash over two hours after two months of inactivity.
- Arkham reports the exploiter's addresses still hold approximately 81,454 Ether, valued at $194 million, following Drift's $295 million April 1 attack attributed to North Korean group UNC6862.
- Drift began DFX recovery token claims on Oct. 1, with a $3.1 million recovery pool, amid ongoing major crypto hacks including Bitget's $387 million and Liquid Network's $320 million exploits in 2026.
Blockchain transfers revive focus on Drift hack
As reported by Cointelegraph, citing Lookonchain, a wallet linked to the Drift Protocol hack deposits about $61 million in Ether into Tornado Cash over roughly two hours on Tuesday after two months without activity.Tornado Cash is a crypto mixing service designed to obscure transaction trails by pooling funds from multiple addresses, making it harder to trace where assets move next. Arkham says the exploiter's addresses still hold about 81,454 Ether, valued at roughly $194 million.
Drift, a decentralized exchange built on Solana, reports losses of about $295 million from the April 1 attack. In June, the company says a forensic investigation by cybersecurity firm Mandiant attributes the hack to UNC6862, a North Korean threat group.
Recovery effort and wider market impact
Drift opens claims and redemptions for DFX recovery tokens on Oct. 1 as part of its effort to compensate affected users. The tokens give holders a claim on a recovery pool, which held about $3.1 million at launch and also receives exchange revenue and any funds recovered later.According to DefiLlama rankings cited in the report, the Drift exploit is the third-largest crypto hack of 2026. Other major incidents this year include the $387 million Bitget hack and the $320 million Liquid Network exploit, highlighting continuing security risks across the digital asset sector.
In our earlier article on Q3 2026 cybersecurity funding and M&A, we noted that investor appetite stayed strong even as deal counts fell, with total funding rising to about $6.8 billion on the back of larger late-stage rounds. We also highlighted how AI-driven and identity-security firms attracted the biggest checks and how consolidation accelerated through sizeable acquisitions, underscoring the market’s focus on mitigating fast-evolving security threats.
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