Shibarium Bridge Hacker Rejects Bounty Offer After Exploit, What’s Next?

In a recent development brought to light, the Shibarium Bridge hacker has chosen not to accept the bounty from K9 Finance, sparking expectations as to what comes next.

As revealed by K9 Finance, the unclaimed ETH in the K9 bounty contract was returned to each respective party who contributed, bringing the bounty story to a close. The Shiba Inu team also received back their 20 ETH.

Shibarium Network, the official X account for Shibarium blockchain, reveals the latest development about the Shibarium incident, which saw an attacker exploit the bridge for $2.4 million in September.

Shibarium Network shared findings from Shima, a Shiba Inu and K9 finance contributor who undertook months of undercover investigation into the Shibarium bridge hacker.

Shima stated the team decided to share the investigation it had been working on, as the Shibarium Bridge hacker foolishly chose not to accept the K9 bounty. He pointed out a “stupid mistake” on the part of the hacker, which helped in unravellng the funds being laundered on Tornado Cash.

This one mistake allowed the investigation to link the original hack wallets, Tornado withdrawal wallets and other KuCoin deposit accounts.

According to Shima, one of the hacker-linked wallets accidentally sent 0.0874 ETH to a “secret” withdrawal wallet, which destroyed the privacy of the hackers, lifting the veil from their identities.

What’s next?

Shima said he was able to map the money flow from the bridge hacker using MetaSleuth. A sequence was established as the money flowed from the original hacker wallet to “dumping” wallets and afterwards to Tornado Cash. The funds were then moved from a web of post-mixer wallets to KuCoin deposit addresses.

This information was quietly shared with the Shibarium team to enable them to work with law enforcement before going public, in case any funds were still frozen or recoverable from KuCoin crypto exchange.

On the part of the Shibarium team, the investigation continues with the help of the proper authorities — a crucial point, as the Shiba Inu community needs answers.

Shiba Inu developer Kaal Dhairya commended the recent move, hinting at a plan to ensure the report is sent to the FBI and KuCoin for necessary action.