Cryptocurrency

New York prosecutor fees hacker over $9M exploit of Solana-based change

July 12, 2023
2 minutes read

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A former safety engineer for a global know-how agency has been arrested and charged for allegedly utilizing a sensible contract bug to steal $9 million in cryptocurrency from a Solana-based decentralized crypto change.

On June 11, the USA Lawyer for the Southern District of New York Damian Williams introduced the “first-ever felony case” involving an assault on a sensible contract operated by a decentralized change (DEX).

In an announcement, Williams claims the accused — Shakeeb Ahmed — “used his experience to defraud the change and its customers and steal roughly $9 million in cryptocurrency.”

Williams stated the assault was carried out in July 2022 and was aimed toward a Solana-based DEX.

The assault concerned exploiting a vulnerability within the change’s sensible contracts to generate inflated charges with flash loans.

These had been then withdrawn and laundered by means of a “collection of advanced transfers on the blockchain the place he swapped cryptocurrencies, hopped throughout totally different crypto blockchains, and used abroad crypto exchanges.”

Whereas Williams didn’t disclose the DEX that was exploited in July, earlier reporting from Cointelegraph reveals an unknown hacker exploited Solana-based liquidity protocol Crema Finance on July 2, 2022, stealing $9.6 million in cryptocurrency.

The exploiter later returned a lot of the funds however was allowed to maintain $1.6 million as a white hat bounty.

Equally, William’s assertion additionally famous that Ahmed determined to return the entire stolen funds aside from $1.5 million on situation the crypto change didn’t refer the assault to regulation enforcement.

“None of these actions lined the defendant’s tracks or fooled regulation enforcement, and so they definitely didn’t cease my Workplace or our regulation enforcement companions from following the cash,” he stated.

Ahmed was arrested in New York and has been indicted on fees of wire fraud and cash laundering associated to the assault of the Solana-based DEX in July 2022.

Cointelegraph contacted Crema Finance for clarification however didn’t instantly obtain a response.

Associated: Crypto hacks and exploits snatch over $300M in Q2 2023

Responding to the latest information, crypto, and startup lawyer “Orlando.btc” commented that the transfer may very well be good for the general DeFi ecosystem.

The indictment signifies that the Division of Justice will “pursue felony fees if an individual deliberately makes use of a protocol in a manner that it was not *meant* for use,”

Journal: Ought to crypto initiatives ever negotiate with hackers? Most likely