Journalist Claims She Identified the 2016 DAO Hacker, Evidence Shows Investigators 'De-Mixed' Wasabi Transactions

An article published by journalist Laura Shin, and research stemming from the blockchain surveillance firm Chainalysis, claims to identify the alleged identity of The DAO hacker who drained millions of dollars worth of ethereum from the decentralized autonomous organization on June 17, 2016. Shin’s and Chainalysis’s findings accuse the former Tenx CEO, Toby Hoenisch, of being behind the $60 million hack that saw the loss of 3.6 million ether, which is now worth close to $10 billion using today’s exchange rates.

Uncovering the 2016 Genesis DAO Hack

In the summer of 2016, there were two significant hacks that shocked the cryptocurrency community — The DAO hack and the Bitfinex breach. Following the recent apprehension of the couple who allegedly possessed the stolen Bitfinex BTC, journalist Laura Shin has published new findings on The DAO hacker and she claims to have identified the person behind the notorious hack. The DAO, also referred to as the Genesis DAO was a decentralized autonomous organization that managed to raise $150 million in ethereum (ETH).

However, on June 17, 2016, an individual discovered a bug in the code that allowed the person to drain funds from the organization’s stash. In a matter of hours, the hacker drained 3,600,000 ether worth roughly $60 million, and using today’s exchange rates the 3.6 million ether is worth $9.3 billion.

The Genesis DAO hack not only wreaked havoc on the price of ethereum (ETH), it also caused a divide within the Ethereum community and ultimately caused the chain to split. Now more than five years later, Shin’s book called “The Cryptopians” claims to have discovered the identity of the hacker.

“We identify the apparent hacker — he denies it — by following a complicated trail of crypto transactions and using a previously undisclosed privacy-cracking forensics tool,” Shin’s Forbes report about the person’s alleged identity.

The Forbes article indicates that Shin leveraged a “powerful and previously secret forensics tool from crypto tracing firm Chainalysis” in order to help uncover the mystery. The findings discuss a blockchain transaction that allegedly derived from the former Tenx CEO Toby Hoenisch.

When Shin and her friends approached Hoenisch, he denied the claims entirely and stressed: “Your statement and conclusion is factually inaccurate.” Despite Hoenisch’s denial, Shin included the story in her book and did an expose on the investigation as well. “Since Hoenisch won’t talk to me, I can only speculate about his possible motives,” Shin said.