Blockchain Sleuth ZachXBT Unravels $40M Crypto Trail Linked to Massive Brazilian Bank Heist

ZachXBT steps up to the plate, helping trace a whopping $40 million in crypto swiped from Brazil's biggest banks!

Hacks are tearing through both traditional finance and DeFi like wildfire, and the attackers? They're getting slicker by the day. On Monday, July 14, blockchain detective ZachXBT dropped the bombshell on how he teamed up with Brazilian law enforcement to chase down between $30 million and $40 million that vanished from major banks.

It all kicked off with a cyberattack on the Central Bank of Brazil's service provider C&M, where hackers crashed the party and raided the reserve accounts of six financial institutions, turning stolen cash into crypto.

"I began working on an initiative that has helped freeze ~$5M across multiple..."

The loot was part of a mega security breach that slammed Brazilian banks for at least $140 million. The hackers were crafty, converting a chunk of the stolen goods into Bitcoin, Ethereum, and USDT, then washing it through local exchanges and OTC trading platforms like it was laundry day.

ZachXBT wasn’t messing around, calling the tracking process "complex." He had to manually spot volume spikes on Brazilian exchanges and trace the outflows. But he nailed it, pinpointing multiple wallets and joining forces with Binance, Bitso, Bybit, and Tether to lock down around $5 million in stolen crypto.

But not everyone's a hero in this story. ZachXBT didn't hold back, blasting Circle, saying, "Circle leadership does not actually care about the industry," for not helping track the stolen funds.

How Hackers Pulled Off a $140M Heist on Brazilian Banks

On June 30, hackers went straight for C&M Software, the IT powerhouse behind Brazil’s Central Bank and the PIX instant payment system. Local news spilled that the breach went down because one employee sold his login for a measly $2,700.

The hackers hit the jackpot, swiping between $140 million and $180 million in reserves from six top financial institutions. ZachXBT spilled that about $40 million of that was flipped into crypto assets. In the aftermath, Brazil’s Central Bank slammed the brakes on part of C&M’s operations.

The cops cuffed a 48-year-old employee who sold his credentials to the attackers. Brazilian police are still on the hunt for other members of this crew, believing at least four more were in on the action. As of July 4, law enforcement had frozen about $50 million in stolen assets.