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Suspected EU crypto theft estimate rises to $133M: ZachXBT
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- DeepHorus
Blockchain investigator ZachXBT has raised his estimate of a suspected crypto theft tied to an unidentified EU entity to more than $133 million. On Tuesday, he identified another $27 million in withdrawals from centralized exchanges, up from the $106 million he first reported Monday. Some withdrawals occurred after his initial disclosure, and the victim’s identity remains unverified.
ZachXBT said his working theory is that a large Western European financial institution was exploited and is being covered up. He claimed the lack of proper disclosure allowed more than $30 million to be laundered, which EU law enforcement could otherwise have frozen. The cover-up allegation remains unverified.
Bitquery said $62.98 million in stablecoins was converted into 27,553 Ether within roughly four hours. As of 13:47 UTC Monday, about $78.3 million remained in attacker-linked wallets, while $30.5 million had moved out. Only $3.74 million remained in USDC that Circle could potentially freeze.
ZachXBT said the attacker was swapping funds into Ether and Monero through instant exchanges and cross-chain bridges. He added that the laundering patterns did not match North Korea’s Lazarus Group. The details suggest a rapid, multi-chain effort to obscure the funds.
The case matters because it points to a possible large-scale breach at a Western European financial institution and raises questions about disclosure timing. The unconfirmed victim identity leaves key claims unresolved. The fund movements also show how quickly stablecoins can be converted and dispersed.
The investigation remains ongoing, with no confirmed identification of the entity or attacker. ZachXBT’s revised estimate may change as more exchange withdrawals are traced. Authorities have not announced a freeze or confirmed the alleged cover-up. The case is likely to intensify scrutiny of EU incident reporting and crypto laundering controls.
