The individual responsible for the $53 million theft from Radiant Capital last year has significantly increased the worth of the pilfered assets by skillfully employing an opportune Ethereum investment tactic.
Summary
- The Radiant Capital hacker increased stolen funds from $53M to $94M through ETH and DAI trading.
- The October 2024 attack exploited Radiant’s multisig wallet using macOS malware.
- Attribution points to North Korea-linked AppleJeus, with little chance of recovery.
As per EmberCN’s X post on Aug. 19, the hacker initially sold 9,631 Ethereum (ETH) at an average price of around $4,562, which equated to approximately 43.9 million Dai (DAI). Later, when prices dropped to $4,096, they repurchased 2,109.5 ETH for roughly $8.64 million in DAI.
The wallet currently contains 14,436 Ethereum and approximately 35.29 million DAI, making it a portfolio valued at roughly $94.63 million. This is an increase of over $41 million compared to the initial worth of the stolen funds. Notably, blockchain analysis firm Lookonchain points out that holding the majority of assets in Ethereum during its price surge significantly contributed to the growth in the wallet’s balance.
Oh my, look at that! The hacker from Radiant Capital is getting into waves now 😂.
He sold off 9,631 ETH for $4,562 per token a week ago, netting him approximately 4393.7 million DAI.
Recently, ETH has recovered, and just within the past hour, he’s used about $864 million in DAI to buy back 2109.5 ETH at a price of $4,096 each…Now, Radiant Capital’s hacker is holding onto 14,436 ETH and approximately 3529 million DAI…
— 余烬 (@EmberCN) August 20, 2025
From $53 million heist to $94 million stash
In October 2024, one of the most destructive cyber-attacks of the year occurred at Radiant Capital, a multi-chain decentralized finance platform. By infiltrating the multisignature wallet of its core team using a malware called INLETDRIFT, designed specifically for macOS, the hacker drained tokens from lending pools on Arbitrum (ARB) and Binance Smart Chain (BNB).
Initially, the stolen funds were swiftly changed into 21,957 units of Ethereum (ETH), which was roughly equivalent to $53 million when the cryptocurrency was close to $2,500 in value. Instead of selling off these assets, the hacker decided to keep the ETH as its worth increased over time. More recently, this individual has been engaging in various trades to amplify their holdings.
Radiant Capital hack attribution and ongoing risks
Some blockchain analysts have tied the recent cyberattack to a notorious North Korean group called AppleJeus, who are known for infiltrating cryptocurrency exchanges and DeFi platforms. Radiant Capital collaborated with the FBI, Chainalysis, SEAL911, ZeroShadow, and other web3 security firms following the hack. However, the chances of recovering the stolen funds remain uncertain since they’re being transferred through Ethereum trading activities.
2024 saw two security incidents at Radiant, with the October event being the more notable one. This incident followed a smaller $4.5 million flash loan exploit earlier in the year. These occurrences highlighted ongoing security concerns within the Decentralized Finance (DeFi) sector, which has unfortunately experienced substantial losses throughout 2025.
Now that approximately $94 million is being managed, experts and security personnel will keep a keen eye on any subsequent actions taken by the suspect.
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2025-08-20 09:05