3 months ago
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The hacker appears to be trying to cover their tracks while also preparing to launder the stolen funds.
The infamous Nomad cross-chain bridge exploit that took place on August 1, 2022, has resurfaced with yet another twist. According to fresh reports from blockchain security firm CertiK, an address previously linked to the exploit has suddenly come back to life to make a major move.
In an X post, CertiK detailed how the said address recently moved approximately 45 million DAI tokens to a new, anonymous address. However, the activity did not merely involve changing addresses. The firm also confirmed that the DAI tokens were eventually swapped for Ethereum (ETH), raising concerns about the real intentions of whoever is behind the address.
Brief History of the Nomad Bridge Exploit
Back in 2022, the security breach that the Nomad bridge suffered was widely covered. The attack, which led to the loss of over $190 million worth of digital assets at the time, became a major talking point within the crypto community. Not necessarily because of the amount that was stolen, but for the sheer number of hackers – over 300 – that participated in the exploit. This brought about pertinent questions as to how safe the crypto industry really is, or if it is even worth consideration at all by aspiring investors given its huge risks.
Following the breach, Nomad’s co-founder, Pranay Mohan, expressed concerns over the attack and even announced plans to recover the stolen funds.
Despite offering a bounty of 10% to white hat hackers and promising not to pursue any legal actions, Nomad could only recover about $35 million to date. That represents about 20% of the total stolen funds.
Growing Concerns over Current Security Measures
As mentioned earlier, the immediate focus of Nomad has been on recovering the stolen assets and enhancing its security protocols. However, this latest development is a pointer to the continued challenges being faced in these kinds of situations.
The transaction involving the 45 million DAI highlights the vulnerabilities and loopholes that currently exist. It also shows the lapses in the current security measures being employed by many firms within the digital assets space.
Notably, only one thing can be deduced from CertiK’s report about the recent transfer of funds to a new address: the hacker appears to be trying to cover their tracks while also preparing to launder the stolen funds.
In all of this, blockchain experts and analysts have continued to call for more comprehensive security practices. They have also emphasized the need for continuous monitoring of suspicious activities. The fact that large sums of stolen assets are being moved and converted suggests that even the bad actors are no newbies to the complexities of the crypto space. So, it is only necessary that bridge protocols such as Nomad not only improve their auditing but also implement more tighter security measures.
