ZachXBT names French bank Crédit Mutuel Arkéa in $133M crypto exchange theft - CoinDesk

Blockchain investigator ZachXBT identified French banking group Crédit Mutuel Arkéa as the suspected victim of a cryptocurrency theft exceeding $133 million in a broadcast message on his Telegram channel. The French bank has neither confirmed nor denied the report, though it acknowledged enabling fraudulent transactions that are now under control.

ZachXBT first reported the theft on Monday, putting losses at more than $106 million. He later discovered another $27 million in withdrawals from centralized crypto exchanges, raising the total to over $133 million. The investigator noted the actual amount stolen could be higher once over-the-counter trades are included.

Bank Response

Crédit Mutuel Arkéa confirmed the attack to CoinDesk on Wednesday, stating it had enabled fraudulent transactions but was now under control. The bank, which has over $250 billion in assets under management, did not disclose the exact amount stolen or whether the funds were originally held in traditional currency or cryptocurrency.

The bank said it had temporarily suspended some transactions to prevent further losses and notified the relevant authorities. It is still assessing the attack's consequences. The bank has been preparing to enter the cryptocurrency business, having applied for a license under the EU's MiCA rules to offer crypto services.

Funds Traced

Blockchain analytics firm Bitquery traced $108.8 million in USDC withdrawn from accounts at Kraken, Crypto.com and OKX over 21 hours on November 1 and 2. The firm tracked the funds through hundreds of wallets, with much of the money converted into ether, which a central issuer cannot freeze.

Bitquery also identified a transfer of 396 ETH into a Kraken deposit address, though it did not establish whether Kraken froze the funds or who controlled the receiving account. Crypto.com confirmed it intervened to block funds linked to the incident, assuring that all user funds remain secure and accessible.

The suspected breach follows several cryptocurrency thefts, including attacks on BTCPay Server and Brazil's Mercado Bitcoin, as well as the $6.3 billion Binance hack, which the FBI attributed to North Korean hackers. ZachXBT expressed a 'high degree of confidence' that North Korea's Lazarus Group did not carry out the latest attack, citing differences in how the stolen funds were moved.