U.S. authorities have successfully reclaimed $31 million in cryptocurrency stolen during the 2021 Uranium Finance hack. Despite the attacker’s use of crypto mixers like Tornado Cash and cross-chain bridges like AnySwap to launder the funds, law enforcement managed to recover a significant portion of the stolen assets.
The announcement was made this week by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York (SDNY) and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) in San Diego, nearly four years after the exploit. The hack, which occurred on April 28, 2021, targeted a vulnerability in Uranium Finance’s smart contracts during their V2.1 protocol upgrade. The attacker exploited the flaw in the platform’s pair contracts, siphoning off nearly $50 million in a range of cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, Binance Coin, Tether, Polkadot, and the platform’s native token, U92.
At the time, the hack raised suspicions due to its timing, shortly after the V2 upgrade and amid concerns about potential insider involvement. The project’s GitHub repository was removed, further fueling doubts. This incident followed a $1.3 million breach earlier in the same month, prompting the community to question the platform’s security.
The stolen funds were quickly laundered through Tornado Cash and AnySwap, but authorities were able to trace the movements and seize the assets. This seizure is part of an ongoing effort by U.S. law enforcement to tackle cryptocurrency-related cybercrime.
Cryptocurrency-related hacking continues to surge globally. In 2024 alone, $2.2 billion was stolen in crypto assets, marking the fifth year in the past decade with losses exceeding $1 billion. North Korean cybercriminals are believed to be behind many of these attacks, accounting for 61% of the total stolen funds this year, further highlighting the growing threat of state-sponsored crypto theft.
These developments emphasize the increasing sophistication of crypto crimes and the efforts by authorities to combat them, ensuring accountability in the digital currency space.
