Rogue Ethereum validator stole over $25 million worth of cryptocurrencies from an Ethereum MEV bot conducting sandwich trades.
According to PeckShieldAlert, the hacker stole over $25 million from the Ethereum Maximal Extractable Value (MEV) bots and stored the amount in mainly three different addresses. They kept a significant amount in 0x3c98, worth over $20 million. A relatively small chunk worth roughly $2.3 million and $3 million is located in 0x5b04 and 0x27bf, respectively.
As of writing, the hacker has roughly $13.4 million worth of Wrapped Ethereum (WETH), USDT worth $3 million, Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC) worth $1.8 million, and $1.6 million worth of DAI stablecoin.
Hacker Became Validator to Steal Funds
The MEV bots use various strategies, one being the sandwich attack. According to Forbes, “MEV bot spots someone else’s intent to buy a coin and sets itself up to profit from the small price appreciation that the other person’s bid will likely cause. The bot jumps the line to purchase the coin at a fraction less, front-running the trade. Then, after the purchase by the mark in the middle goes through, the bot tops off the sandwich by automatically selling the token at a profit.”
CertikAlert explains that as the bots executed the sandwich trade, the rogue Ethereum validator replaced the reverse transaction when they tried to close the trade.
Above all, the hacker became a validator by depositing 32 ETH just 18 days before stealing the funds. Also, they funded the wallet through a privacy tool, Aztec Network. Hence some allege that it is a planned attack.
The community believes it can be a major turning point for the entire MEV ecosystem.
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