Exploiter behind Balancer breach swaps Ethereum holdings for Bitcoin

Funds from the five‑month dormant Balancer hack have resumed moving: the exploiter began swapping ETH into BTC via ThorChain, converting roughly 1,100 ETH in an hour and initiating broader conversions from a roughly $120M stash. ThorChain activity spiked to the highest level since May 2025, with swap volumes elevated to about $70M on April 24 (vs. a typical ~$20M daily), reflecting these swaps. The article notes ETH trading near $2,300 and BTC around $77,700, and warns that ThorChain’s non‑custodial, non‑censorable swaps (and upcoming native ZEC support) could make recovering or blacklisting stolen funds harder. Market impact is judged limited for ETH so far given the pace, but the moves highlight privacy risks and potential laundering paths that could affect liquidity and monitoring of large crypto flows.