Chainalysis Tracks THORChain Attack Source: Proficient Money Laundering Skills, Cross-Chain Fund Transfer Weeks Before Attack

Odaily Chainalysis posted on X platform, stating that prior to the THORChain theft, wallets suspected to be linked to the attacker had been transferring funds through Monero, Hyperliquid, and THORChain for several consecutive weeks. As early as late April, the attacker-associated wallets deposited funds into Hyperliquid positions via Hyperliquid and the Monero privacy bridge. These funds were subsequently converted to USDC and transferred to Arbitrum, then bridged to Ethereum. Some of the ETH was then moved to THORChain to stake as RUNE for a newly joined node, which is believed to be the source of the attack.

Subsequently, the attacker bridged a portion of the RUNE back to Ethereum and split it into four chains. One chain went directly to the attacker, passing through intermediate wallets before transferring 8 ETH to the wallet that would ultimately receive the stolen funds, just 43 minutes before the attack. The funds from the other three chains flowed in reverse. Between May 14 and 15, these wallets bridged the ETH back to Arbitrum again, deposited it into Hyperliquid, and transferred it into Monero via the same privacy bridge, with the final transaction occurring less than 5 hours before the attack commenced. As of Friday afternoon, the stolen funds remain untouched, but the attacker has demonstrated sophisticated cross-chain money laundering capabilities. The Hyperliquid to Monero path may be the next move.