Journalist Allege Former Crypto CEO Was behind $11 Billion Ethereum DAO Breach

Toby Hoenisch, the former CEO of TenX, has been identified as the person responsible for the Ethereum DAO breach. Following the 2016 breach, a contentious Ethereum hard fork rolled back the network, allowing stolen cash to be refunded to users.

A new book may have exposed the name of the mastermind behind the infamous 2016 attack of TheDAO, a crypto collective.

According to journalist Laura Shin’s book “The Cryptopians: Idealism, Greed, Lies, and the Making of the First Big Cryptocurrency Craze,” the accused hacker who stole what now would be nearly $11 billion in ether is 36-year-old programmer Toby Hoenisch.

Shin stated she tried to interview Hoenisch before releasing the book but was unsuccessful. She eventually emailed him a document outlining her findings, to which he replied that her “conclusion is factually wrong.” She claimed he never responded to her emails for further information about why he did what he did.

According to Shin, TheDAO, a decentralised venture fund, started in 2016 and received $139 million, making it the most successful crowdfund at the time, according to a Forbes report.

A hacker took advantage of flaws in TheDAO’s programming and syphoned 3.64 million ether, or 5% of all ether at the time, into a new fund called the DarkDAO within weeks.

As a result of the attack, Ethereum split into two in an attempt to reclaim the stolen assets. According to Shin, the DarkDAO had Ethereum classic, not today’s Ethereum, making the stolen crypto worth roughly $100 million rather than $11 billion based on the current Ethereum pricing.

More evidence has surfaced linking Hoenisch to the crime, and part of it implies that the TenX CEO went out of his way to troll Vitalik Buterin following the attack, publishing oblique references to the hack and declaring that ‘too big to fail is failure guaranteed.’

Those in the Ethereum community who know Hoenish had some harsh comments to say, according to Shin. Hoenish was described as a “obnoxious” man who knew more than everyone else by Greek software developer Karapetsas, who also worked on the DAO.

Perhaps Hoenisch thought he’d proven them all wrong by manipulating the DAO.

Shin said that she didn’t start writing her book four years ago with the intention of solving the mystery, but that there were enough evidence, discussions, and traceable transactions to bring her to her conclusion.

Shin’s research was further aided by a new forensics tool developed by blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis.

“The evidence appears to be solid,” she said of the comments she’s gotten thus far. “Can any other author claim to have had such a successful book launch?”

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