US prosecutors have charged a Canadian national with orchestrating a $65 million exploit targeting decentralized finance (DeFi) platforms KyberSwap and Indexed Finance.
The Justice Department unsealed an indictment on 3 February 2025 in a Brooklyn federal court against Andean Medjedovic, accusing him of hacking, wire fraud, money laundering, and attempted extortion. Medjedovic remains at large, according to the Brooklyn US Attorney’s Office.
Prosecutors allege that in October 2021, Medjedovic manipulated Indexed Finance’s smart contracts to steal $16.5 million through deceptive trades.
EXPLORE: 15 New & Upcoming Coinbase Listings to Watch in 2025
$48.8 Million Drained In Repeat DeFi Attack
Two years later, in November 2023, he allegedly executed a similar attack on KyberSwap, siphoning approximately $48.8 million from the protocol’s liquidity pools.
According to the indictment, Medjedovic borrowed hundreds of millions in digital tokens and engaged in complex trading maneuvers designed to trick the protocols’ smart contracts into miscalculating key financial variables.
By exploiting these vulnerabilities, he allegedly withdrew investor funds at artificially inflated prices, leaving victims with worthless assets.
Following the KyberSwap hack, Medjedovic is accused of attempting to extort victims through an on-chain settlement proposal. Prosecutors claim he threatened to delay negotiations over returning funds and later demanded operational control of the protocol in exchange for returning 50% of the stolen assets.
Canadian Man Charged in $65 million Cryptocurrency Hacking Schemes. pic.twitter.com/pjiYhxzD2K
— CryptoMutant (@CryptoMutant) February 4, 2025
The indictment also details Medjedovic’s efforts to launder the stolen funds with the help of a relative. Authorities allege he funneled money through a crypto mixer and multiple blockchain bridges to convert the assets into fiat currency using fraudulent bank accounts.
When an unnamed bridge protocol froze a portion of the funds, Medjedovic reportedly paid $85,000 to an undercover law enforcement officer posing as a developer to unlock them.
EXPLORE: 10 Coins with High Returns: Crypto Forecast 2025
Crypto Hacks Drop 44% In January As Hackers Steal $73M
Cryptocurrency-related cybercrime saw a significant decline in January 2025, with hackers stealing $73 million across 19 separate incidents — a 44% drop from the $133 million stolen in January 2024.
While the decrease is a positive sign for industry security, the figure still represents a sharp ninefold increase from December 2024, when crypto hackers stole just $3.8 million, according to a 30 January 2025 report from Immunefi.
The largest single attack of the month targeted Singapore-based crypto exchange Phemex, which lost $69 million, making up the vast majority of the month’s total stolen funds.
The second-largest hack involved Moby Trade, a crypto options platform, which suffered a $2.5 million breach. Despite the overall decline in theft compared to last year, the data underscores the ongoing vulnerability of cryptocurrency platforms to cyber threats.
According to Immunefi, centralized finance (CeFi) platforms accounted for 93% of all crypto theft in January, with losses totaling $69 million across a few major incidents.
EXPLORE: Best New Cryptocurrencies to Invest in 2025
The post Canadian National Charged In $65 Million DeFi Exploit And Money Laundering Case appeared first on 99Bitcoins.