Uranium Finance Hacker Convicted in $53 Million Crypto Theft
Summary
A Maryland man was convicted of stealing about $53.3 million from Uranium Finance in two 2021 smart-contract exploits that forced the exchange to close. Authorities recovered about $31 million in cryptocurrency and seized collectibles.
Key points
- Jonathan Spalletta was found guilty of stealing approximately $53.3 million from decentralized exchange Uranium Finance in April 2021.
- In the first attack, he exploited a smart-contract flaw to withdraw about $1.4 million from a liquidity pool.
- A second coding error let him withdraw nearly 90% of the exchange’s liquidity by exploiting a transaction-verification calculation.
- The exchange shut down after losing most of its holdings; Spalletta laundered cryptocurrency through Tornado Cash and decentralized exchanges.
- Authorities recovered roughly $31 million in cryptocurrency and seized collectibles purchased with proceeds.
- Spalletta faces up to 10 years for computer fraud and 20 years for money laundering.
Article Details
- Event Type
- Criminal conviction for cryptocurrency exchange hacking and money laundering
- Impact
- The theft of more than $53 million forced Uranium Finance to shut down for lack of funds. Law enforcement recovered roughly $31 million in cryptocurrency and seized collectibles purchased with the proceeds. Jonathan Spalletta faces up to 10 years in prison for computer fraud and up to 20 years for money laundering.
People
Jamie McDonaldU.S. Attorney who commented on the financial harm and platform collapse caused by Spalletta's crimes.Jonathan SpallettaConvicted of hacking Uranium Finance twice in April 2021 and laundering stolen cryptocurrency; known online as Jspalletta and Cthulhon.ZachXBTCrypto fraud investigator who first linked over 11,200 ETH withdrawn from Tornado Cash to the Uranium hacker in December 2023.
Threat Actors
CthulhonOnline alias of Jonathan Spalletta, the convicted Uranium Finance hacker.Jonathan SpallettaConvicted attacker who exploited two smart contract coding flaws to steal cryptocurrency from Uranium Finance; the article identifies Jspalletta and Cthulhon as his online aliases.JspallettaOnline alias of Jonathan Spalletta, the convicted Uranium Finance hacker.
Products
Tornado CashNext, Spalletta laundered the stolen cryptocurrency through the Tornado Cash cryptocurrency mixer and multiple decentralized exchanges.Uranium FinanceA Maryland man was found guilty of stealing more than $53 million after hacking the decentralized crypto exchange Uranium Finance twice in April 2021.