Coin Market

Crypto exploit, scam losses drop to $28.8M in March after February spike

Published

2 months ago

April 1, 2025

Losses to crypto scams, exploits, and hacks dropped to just $28.8 million in March, far from February’s spike to $1.5 billion in losses after the Bybit hack.

Code vulnerabilities accounted for the most losses, at over $14 million, while wallet compromises were used to steal over $8 million, blockchain security firm CertiK said in an April 1 post to X.

The most significant loss for the month was the $13 million March 25 smart contract exploit of the decentralized lending protocol Abracadabra.money.

After accounting for returned funds, a total of $28.8 million was stolen through exploits, hacks and scams in March. Source: CertiK

In a separate March 27 report, the blockchain security firm said, “The attacker was able to borrow funds, liquidate themselves, then borrow funds again without repaying them.”

“This was due to the liquidation process not overwriting records in RouterOrder that counted as collateral, allowing the exploiter to falsely borrow additional funds after liquidation,” CertiK said.

The protocols team has offered a 20% bounty, double the standard 10%, in exchange for the return of the funds, according to CertiK. So far, no public updates have been given on whether any funds have been returned.

The second highest monthly loss was restaking protocol Zoth after its deployer wallet was compromised and the attacker withdrew over $8.4 million in crypto assets.

March crypto losses reduced after hacker returned some funds

Some of the stolen funds in March were returned. In total, CertiK says over $33 million was stolen for the month, but decentralized exchange aggregator 1inch successfully recovered most of the $5 million stolen in a March 5 exploit after negotiating a bug bounty agreement with the attacker.

The total figures, however, exclude an unknown Coinbase user who crypto sleuth ZachXBT claims lost 400 Bitcoin (BTC), worth $34 million. At the same time, ZachXBT said over $46 million could have been lost in March to phishing scams spoofing crypto exchanges.

Australian federal police said on March 21 that they had to alert 130 people of a message scam aimed at crypto users that spoofed the same “sender ID” as legitimate crypto exchanges.

X users also reported on March 14 of messages spoofing crypto exchanges trying to trick users into setting up a new wallet using pre-generated recovery phrases controlled by the fraudsters.

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Coin Market

Coinbase hacker trolls ZachXBT onchain after $42.5M THORChain swap

Published

41 minutes ago

May 22, 2025

The hacker behind the data breach targeting Coinbase users mocked blockchain investigator ZachXBT with an onchain message following a major crypto swap.

On May 21, the hacker used Ethereum transaction input data to write “L bozo,” followed by a meme video of NBA player James Worthy smoking a cigar.

The message came after the attacker swapped about $42.5 million from Bitcoin (BTC) to Ether (ETH) via THORChain.

ZachXBT flagged the message on his Telegram channel, linking it to the same entity responsible for the Coinbase data breach affecting at least 69,400 users.

Coinbase hacker trolling ZachXBT. Source: ZachXBT.

On May 22, blockchain security firm PeckShield reported that the hacker had continued to move funds, swapping 8,697 ETH for 22 million Dai (DAI). A separate but closely linked address, which received 9,081 ETH via THORChain, also converted the assets into 23 million DAI.

Coinbase hit with lawsuits after breach

The Coinbase breach, first reported in a filing with the Maine Attorney General’s office, occurred in December 2024 and was discovered on May 11. The stolen data includes names, home addresses and other personal information.

Following the disclosure, the attackers demanded a $20 million ransom in Bitcoin to prevent the release of the stolen data. Coinbase refused and instead offered a $20 million bounty for information leading to the identification of the hackers.

The company estimates a potential financial impact between $180 million and $400 million due to remediation costs and customer compensation.

Coinbase has also faced a wave of lawsuits following the revelation. At least six legal complaints were filed on May 15 and 16, with plaintiffs accusing the exchange of failing to implement adequate security measures and mishandling its response to the breach.

THORChain under scrutiny for criminal use

The Coinbase hacker’s use of THORChain to swap $42.5 million worth of Bitcoin into Ether comes as the protocol faces growing scrutiny over its role in facilitating illicit transactions.

In March, the platform came under fire after its swap volume surged following the $1.4 billion Bybit hack. The protocol generated over $5 million in revenue after processing $5.4 billion in swap volume, with over $1 billion moved in a single day.

Blockchain security firms identified North Korea’s Lazarus Group as the main suspect, using THORChain to launder a significant portion of the stolen funds.

Source: Lookonchain

The controversy intensified when a THORChain developer, known as “Pluto,” resigned after a vote to block transactions linked to Lazarus was overturned.

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Coin Market

Feds charge Amalgam founder with stealing $1M via ‘sham’ blockchain

Published

2 hours ago

May 22, 2025

A US grand jury has indicted the founder of blockchain startup Amalgam Capital Ventures over allegations he defrauded investors out of over $1 million with a fake blockchain.

Jeremy Jordan-Jones was arrested and indicted on May 21 and charged with wire fraud, securities fraud, making false statements to a bank, and aggravated identity theft, the Department of Justice said on May 21.

Manhattan US Attorney Jay Clayton claimed Jordan-Jones “touted his company as a groundbreaking blockchain startup,” but alleged that, in reality, the “company was a sham, and investors’ funds were siphoned off to bankroll his lavish lifestyle.”

FBI Assistant Director Christopher Raia alleged that Jordan-Jones defrauded investors of more than 1 million dollars through “misrepresentations of his purported company’s capabilities, partnerships, and investment intentions.”

Raia claimed the Amalgam founder’s “blatant lies” funded his personal lifestyle at the expense of unknowing victims.

An excerpt from the indictment of Jeremy Jordan-Jones. Source: US Department of Justice

According to an indictment filed in a Manhattan federal court, from January 2021 to November 2022, Jordan-Jones deceived investors and financial institutions using fabricated documents, fake sports partnerships, and misleading claims, ultimately misappropriating over $1 million for personal use.

Amalgam claimed to offer point-of-sale systems and blockchain-based payment and security solutions, the filing states.

The indictment alleged the firm had “no operable products, few, if any, customers, and zero legitimate business partnerships.”

The filing alleged that instead of channeling the funds into tech development and crypto exchange listings as promised, Jordan-Jones spent the money on luxury vehicles, high-end vacations, clothing and fancy restaurants in Miami.

Charges carry decades in prison

Jordan-Jones was also accused of submitting a fake bank statement claiming Amalgam held over $18 million in order to secure a company credit card, but prosecutors claimed there were no funds in the bank account and it had been closed in late 2021.

Wire fraud and security fraud carry potential penalties of up to 20 years in prison per count, while making false statements to a bank carries up to 30 years.

Jordan-Jones was also charged with one count of aggravated identity theft, which carries a mandatory sentence of two years in prison.

The government is seeking forfeiture of any property or money traceable to the fraud, including substitute assets if the original funds are unavailable.

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Coin Market

Pakistan creates Digital Asset Authority to regulate crypto

Published

2 hours ago

May 22, 2025

Pakistan’s Ministry of Finance has reportedly endorsed the creation of a dedicated body to regulate blockchain-based financial infrastructure in the country.

The Pakistan Digital Assets Authority (PDAA) will serve as a regulatory body to oversee licensing, regulate exchanges, custodians, wallets, tokenized platforms, stablecoins and decentralized finance applications, according to a May 21 report from the state-owned broadcaster, PTV.

Muhammad Aurangzeb, federal minister for finance and revenue, told the broadcaster, “Pakistan must regulate not just to catch up, but to lead” in the industry.

“With the PDAA, we are creating a future-ready framework that protects consumers, invites global investment, and puts Pakistan at the forefront of financial innovation,” he said.

Muhammad Aurangzeb, Pakistan’s Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue. Source: Pakistan Ministry of Finance

The PDAA will also be tasked with tokenizing national assets and government debt, facilitating monetization of Pakistan’s surplus electricity through regulated Bitcoin mining, and helping startups build blockchain-based solutions at scale.

The new regulatory body was part of a recommendation from the Pakistan advisory body, the Cryptocurrency Council, which was launched on March 14 and has former Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao as an adviser.

“This is not just about crypto — it’s about rewriting our financial future, expanding access, and creating new export channels through tokenization, digital finance and Web3 innovation,” said Bilal Bin Saqib, CEO of Pakistan’s Crypto Council.

Pakistan’s Federal Investigation Agency previously proposed a regulatory framework for digital assets designed to address terrorism financing, money laundering provisions, and Know Your Customer concerns, according to am April 10 report from local newspaper, The Express Tribune.

Pakistan crypto market rises despite early skepticism

In May 2023, former Minister of State for Finance and Revenue Aisha Ghaus Pasha said that Pakistan would never legalize cryptocurrencies due to the potential for digital assets to circumvent regulations created by the Financial Action Task Force, the supranational organization that polices finance for money laundering.

However, the following year, Pakistan ranked highly in Chainalysis’ 2024 crypto adoption index, coming in ninth, mainly due to strong retail adoption and transactions at centralized services.

Pakistan ranked highly in Chainalysis’ 2024 crypto adoption index, coming in 9th. Source: Chainalysis

Meanwhile, the online data platform Statista shows Pakistan’s crypto market is “experiencing rapid growth” and estimates the number of crypto users is expected to amount to over 27 million by 2025, out of a population of 247 million.

At the same time, revenue in the Pakistan crypto market is projected to reach $1.6 billion in 2025. The United States still leads the pack, with its crypto market generated an estimated revenue of over $9.4 billion, according to Statista data.

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