Tornado Cash community accepts the hacker’s offer to take back control of the protocol
It is not yet known whether the attacker will return the stolen funds
29.05.2023 - 08:25
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What’s new? The unknown hacker who hacked the Tornado Cash crypto mixer’s control mechanism on May 20 later offered the community to take back control take back control of the protocol. On May 26, the proposal was adopted by an overwhelming majority of votes, it was implemented by one of the members of the project’s decentralized autonomous organization (DAO). It is known that more than $1 million in cryptocurrency was withdrawn from the system during the week that the hacker was in control.
What else is known? The hacker’s proposal involved removing the malicious code integrated into the protocol, as well as returning control of Tornado Cash’s DAO to token holders.
According to the co-founder of blockchain security and auditing firm CertiK Ronghui Gu, the criminal managed to withdraw about 470 000 native tokens TORN and exchange them for ETH. In total, the hacker deposited 572 ETH into the mixer. In a comment to Fortune, the expert added that the incident could bring Tornado Cash to a halt, and since this type of hacking is becoming more common, DAO needs to conduct third-party code audits to mitigate the risks. That said, a costly audit of each community proposal would significantly slow down the voting process and its implementation.
As of May 29, 08:00 UTC, the cost of TORN was $4,28, having gained 2,41% overnight, according to crypto exchange Binance.
Tornado Cash situation. The service was banned by the US Treasury Department in August 2022. The authorities say it was used by hackers from the Lazarus group and was linked to the DPRK’s nuclear program. Tornado Cash developer Alexey Pertsev was arrested in the Netherlands on suspicion of involvement in money laundering through the mixer. On April 26 he was placed under house arrest.
In March, one of the creators of the project presentedits new version, which contains a function to prove the legitimacy of funds received.
Useful material?
Telegram 
Twitter Incidents
Developers warned of potential risks to bridges across the ecosystem and asked exchanges for assistance.
Jun 22, 2026
Incidents
The defendant helped move funds stolen through investment scams and earned at least $4 million for his role in the operation.
Jun 10, 2026
Incidents
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May 22, 2026
Incidents
Following the incident, the project temporarily halted trading operations and node activity.
May 15, 2026
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The user spent weeks unsuccessfully trying to guess the password until Claude helped find an old wallet backup file
May 14, 2026
Crypto regulations
Authorities are introducing mandatory registration for companies handling cross-border crypto transactions
May 8, 2026
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