According to on-chain monitoring by the analyst Ai Aunt on April 22, the Venus Protocol attacker transferred 2,301 ETH (about $5.32 million) to address 0xa21…23A7f 11 hours ago, and then moved the funds in batches into the crypto mixer Tornado Cash for laundering; as of the time of monitoring, the attacker still holds about $17.45 million worth of ETH on-chain.
April 22 On-Chain Monitoring Details
(Source: Arkham)
Based on Ai Aunt’s on-chain monitoring data, this transfer involved 2,301 ETH (about $5.32 million). The target address was 0xa21…23A7f. The funds were subsequently moved into Tornado Cash in batches. As of the time of reporting, the attacker still had about $17.45 million worth of ETH on-chain that had not been moved.
March 16, 2026 Attack Recap: THE Token Manipulation Mechanism
According to public reports and an analysis by on-chain researcher Li WeilIn, on March 16, 2026, Venus Protocol (the largest lending platform on BNB Chain) was attacked. The attacker used THENA’s low-liquidity THE token to steal approximately $3.7 million in digital assets. Security researchers confirmed the attacker address as 0x1a35…6231, which had already received 7,400 ETH from Tornado Cash before the attack was launched.
Li WeilIn’s analysis shows that the attacker drove THE’s price from about $0.27 to about $5 by buying large amounts of THE tokens, then borrowed approximately 20 BTCB, 1.5 million CAKE, and 200 BNB using the inflated collateral, and completed the funds withdrawal before the liquidation caused THE’s price to drop to $0.24. The attacker bypassed Venus’s supply cap by directly transferring THE tokens to the vTHE contract, rather than through the standard minting process. This is a known vulnerability in Compound fork lending platforms.
After the incident, THENA confirmed that its smart contract was not compromised; Venus Protocol confirmed that “abnormal activity” appeared in the THE and CAKE markets, and reduced the collateral factors of six markets—BCH, LTC, UNI, AAVE, FIL, and TWT—to zero.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the latest on-chain activity of the Venus attacker monitored by Ai Aunt?
According to on-chain monitoring by analyst Ai Aunt on April 22, 2026, the Venus Protocol attacker transferred 2,301 ETH (about $5.32 million) to address 0xa21…23A7f 11 hours ago, and then moved the funds into Tornado Cash in batches; as of the time of monitoring, the attacker still had about $17.45 million worth of ETH on-chain.
How much funding was involved in the March 16 attack on Venus Protocol, and how did the attacker prepare?
According to public reports, the March 16, 2026 attack resulted in about $3.7 million in digital assets being stolen; before launching the attack, the attacker had already received 7,400 ETH from Tornado Cash as initial funding.
What measures did Venus Protocol take after the March 16 attack?
According to Venus Protocol’s public statement, after Venus confirmed abnormal activity in the THE and CAKE markets, it reduced the collateral factors of six markets—BCH, LTC, UNI, AAVE, FIL, and TWT—to zero, freezing standard coverage that includes metrics such as total market cap, trading volume, DEX TVL, and concentration of collateral by single users.
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