The attacker behind the Tornado Cash mixer published a proposal whose implementation could potentially restore control of the project, the decentralized autonomous organization (DAO).
“The attacker has posted a new proposal to restore governance. I think there’s a good chance he’ll implement it,” commented user Tornadosaurus-Hex on the community forum.
According to him, the proposal is not malicious and envisions removing the malicious code that allowed the unknown to seize control of the mixer.
A community member using the pseudonym 0xdeadf4ce expressed doubts about the attacker’s sincerity. In his view, these actions could be an attempt to win trust and push up the fallen governance token TORN price.
“Either he’s trolling, or this will become expensive, though not a catastrophic lesson in governance security,” said 0xdeadf4ce.
TornadoCash attacker deployed new proposal that, if executed, would seemingly revert the damage done to the Governance functionality. Either they’re giga trolling or it will end up being an expensive but not disastrous lesson in Governance security.https://t.co/QMWYFsi8kP
— 0xdeadf4ce (@0xdface) May 21, 2023
He agreed with Tornadosaurus-Hex that the community has no chance to influence the outcome of the vote.
According to EmberCN, the attacker withdrew a total of 483,000 TORN from the Tornado Governance treasury. Of this amount, he sold 379,300 TORN for 375 ETH ($0.68 million) at an average price of $1.80.
龙卷风治理攻击者从龙卷风治理金库一共获得了 483,000 $TORN 。目前转移情况：
6,000 TORN 存入 #Bitrue；
379,300 TORN 链上抛售换成 375 $ETH($0.68M)，卖出均价 $1.8；
还有 97,700 TORN 尚未抛售/转出。攻击龙卷风获得 TORN→抛售换得 ETH →再用龙卷风混币洗出。骚?
推文由 @LionDEX_CN 赞助 pic.twitter.com/x6zFXXcyAq
— 余烬 (@EmberCN) May 21, 2023
In the wake of the attack, TORN prices briefly dipped to $3.60 from above $6 (CoinGecko). The asset’s price recovered to around $4.80, rising about 10% after the governance proposal was introduced.
The largest cryptocurrency exchange, Binance, after the attack on Tornado Cash, suspended deposits of TORN, according to Colin Wu.
Justin Sun, for his part, said that Huobi and Poloniex continue to operate with the asset in normal mode, but are “closely watching the situation.”
Please be informed that deposits and withdrawals of $TORN @tornado_cash remain active on @HuobiGlobal and @Poloniex. We’re closely monitoring the situation and may adjust our policy as required to ensure secure. We appreciate your understanding and support.
— H.E. Justin Sun 孙宇晨 (@justinsuntron) May 21, 2023
In November 2022, the U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control updated sanctions against Tornado Cash, citing its role in financing North Korea’s nuclear program.