After months of inactivity following the New Year's Eve exploit, the perpetrator behind the $82 million Orbit Chain hack has shifted $47.7 million to the cryptocurrency privacy mixer Tornado Cash, signaling a resumption of movement.

According to blockchain analytics firm Arkham Intelligence, a total of 12,932 Ether (ETH) valued at $47.7 million was transferred across seven transactions on June 8 to a new address, subsequently directed to the crypto mixer Tornado Cash.

While initial reports estimated losses at $82 million, Arkham's findings suggest the figure may be closer to $100 million. The hacker, who had maintained silence since the exploit, executed the transfer, indicating potential intentions to launder the stolen funds.

The transferred Ether, predominantly in batches of 100 ETH, was sent through Tornado Cash, obscuring its origin and complicating efforts to track the flow of funds.

However, the hacker retained approximately $71.2 million in stolen assets, including $51.1 million in Ether, alongside small amounts of wrapped Bitcoin (wBTC), wrapped Ether (wETH), Orbit Chain (ORC), and USD Coin (USDC).

The initial hack occurred in the waning hours of 2023, triggering losses amounting to $82 million. Orbit Chain promptly confirmed the exploit and pledged cooperation with law enforcement agencies to recover the stolen assets, offering a maximum bounty reward of $8 million for actionable intelligence.

Despite the setback, Orbit Chain continues to utilize the Inter-Blockchain Communication Protocol to facilitate data and value transfers across the Cosmos ecosystem. While the platform's total value locked has decreased by over 75% since the hack, it still retains approximately $37 million in locked assets, according to DefiLlama.

The incident underscores ongoing challenges in securing decentralized networks, with hackers exploiting vulnerabilities to siphon significant sums from crypto platforms. Notably, while smart contract hacks decreased substantially in 2023, overall cryptocurrency-related theft surged by 42% in the first quarter of 2024, suggesting persistent threats to the industry's security landscape.