KyberSwap Hack Mastermind arrives to negotiate

The hacker who stole $45 million from decentralized exchange aggregator KyberSwap using Tornado Cash has reached a settlement with the team behind the protocol. The spoiler says the negotiations will take place “when you are completely relaxed.”

A hacker who stole $45 million in Ethereum and other tokens from KyberSwap on Wednesday said they are willing to negotiate. A type of dynamic market maker, KyberSwap helps decentralized finance users access liquidity across multiple blockchains.

KyberSwap Hack is launched on the chain

Their exploitation follows an $85 million attack on the HECO chain, which crypto mogul Justin Sun merged with the TRON blockchain in 2022. On Wednesday, a hacker also stole money from two hot wallet owners of the crypto exchange HTX, previously Huobi.

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Blockchain security firm Cybers Meir Dolev suspects attacks on HECO and HTX by the same party. The HTX hack stole $2.5 million in Ethereum, $7.3 million in Tether (USDT), $1.8 million in USD Coin (USDC), and $62,200 in Chainlink (LINK) tokens. Sun confirmed the hack and said HTX, formerly Huobi Global, would “fully reimburse” affected customers.

HTX links to Binance will grow more troublesome.

Caico Research recently highlighted the relationship between Binance and HTX. The latter sold $350 million in USD in July and then transferred the USDC to Binance, which recently made headlines for its ties to Hamas. The Poloniex exchange, which is linked to Sun, agreed in May with the US Office of Foreign Assets Control to provide “economic benefits” to 232 sanctioned entities.

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In October, 14% of HTX reserves consisted of staked Tether (stUSDT), a token that provides JustLend products to some clients. The stUSDT's focus spooked institutional investors, who exited many of their holdings in October. It may also affect his ability to recover assets lost in the recent hacking.

Sun is facing charges from US regulators for allegedly laundering crypto tokens. Former Sun rival and Binance boss Changpeng Zhao pleaded guilty to financing terrorist activity.

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