Remember the Hundred Finance hack? The one where a digital bandit made off with $7.4 million a year ago? Well, it seems the thief is back, and they've got an itch – a money laundering itch.

On May 1st, after a year of radio silence, the hacker emerged from the shadows and started shuffling stolen crypto assets out of Curve, a decentralized exchange. Etherscan, the blockchain detective, spotted the culprit pulling out about $800,000 worth of Ether and Tether – funds that were previously parked on Curve to provide liquidity.

But this wasn't just a simple withdrawal. The hacker, with a keen eye for profit, cashed in on the opportunity to convert the Tether and other crypto dust (like PAXG and DAI) into shiny new Ethereum. These transactions saw the hacker's Ether stack grow by over a cool million dollars.

So, what's next for our not-so-patient criminal? Experts at Peckshield, a blockchain security firm, believe cashing out won't be a walk in the park. Remember how the heist unfolded? The hacker inflated the exchange rate for a specific crypto (hWBTC) by throwing in a bunch of another one (WBTC). This trickery allowed them to drain Hundred Finance's lending pools dry with minimal effort. Clever, yes, but also a neon sign screaming "stolen funds!"

Unfortunately for the hacker, crypto transactions are like digital receipts – they leave a trail. Hiding the origin of the stolen millions, or converting them to cold, hard cash, will be a monumental task. Crypto mixer services, once a haven for laundering ill-gotten gains, are getting squeezed by regulators. Just recently, the founders of Samourai Wallet (a popular mixer) were arrested for allegedly helping criminals launder billions. Ouch.

This crackdown, coupled with stricter regulations on anonymous transactions, makes laundering a messy business. The story doesn't end there. The hacker isn't alone in their post-hibernation spending spree. Another crypto culprit, responsible for a $33 million heist on Poloniex last year, decided to dust off their loot this week. They moved a whopping 501 Bitcoins (around $32 million) to new wallets, likely in an attempt to confuse the trail.

With law enforcement hot on the heels of crypto criminals and regulators tightening the noose on mixers, it seems the days of easy laundering are over. The question remains: will our Hundred Finance hacker manage to turn their digital millions into spendable cash, or will they be left holding a very expensive bag of crypto? Only time will tell, but one thing's for sure – the game of cat and mouse in the wild west of crypto continues.