ZachXBT names Crédit Mutuel Arkéa as victim of $133M crypto theft
- ZachXBT identified Crédit Mutuel Arkéa as the victim of a $133 million cryptocurrency theft.
- The French bank confirmed it experienced an attack involving fraudulent transactions.
- A spokesperson stated that client interests are protected and no financial consequences occurred.
- ZachXBT alleged that a lack of timely disclosure allowed $30 million to be laundered.
- Blockchain analytics firm Bitquery tracked over $100 million in withdrawals from major exchanges.
The investigator shared this information via a message on Telegram.
Crédit Mutuel Arkéa holds approximately $235 billion in assets. This alleged theft involves the cooperative banking group.
The bank confirmed to CoinDesk on Wednesday that it experienced an attack involving fraudulent transactions, stating the situation is now under control. Other reports from Decrypt and BeInCrypto earlier on Wednesday indicated the bank had not issued a public confirmation of the theft.
No regulators or law enforcement agencies have publicly confirmed the identity of the victim or the specific loss amount as of November 4, 2026. The specific method or attack vector used in the theft remains undisclosed by the investigator.
Bank confirms incident and protects client assets
A spokesperson for Crédit Mutuel Arkéa stated that the incident has no financial consequences for clients and their interests are fully protected. The bank, which manages over $250 billion in assets, temporarily suspended some transactions while assessing the impact of the attack.
The institution also notified relevant authorities regarding the security breach. Cointelegraph previously attempted to contact the bank for comment without receiving a response before publication.
Kraken also informed Cointelegraph that it restricted accounts associated with the theft, while OKX did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Recent security failures include a $40 million drain at Brazil’s Mercado Bitcoin and a smaller breach at BitMart involving the same actors. The $133 million loss represents roughly 2% of the $6.34 billion Binance hack that occurred six months ago.
Timeline of the $133 million crypto attack
The total theft amount rose from the initial estimate of $106 million to more than $133 million by November 4. This adjustment followed the discovery of an additional $27 million in withdrawals from centralized exchanges.
ZachXBT stated that the attack on the bank took place over the course of multiple days. Some of these exchange withdrawals occurred even after his first public alert regarding the incident.
The investigator suspects that the total value of the stolen assets is higher than $133 million. He believes the loss may increase further once over-the-counter activity is fully accounted for.
Bitquery tracks laundering of stolen stablecoins
Blockchain analytics firm Bitquery tracked $108.8 million in USDC withdrawals from Kraken, Crypto.com, and OKX over a 21-hour period on November 1 and 2. The stolen funds were moved out of exchange accounts as USDC and Tether.
Bitquery identified that $62.98 million in stablecoins were converted into 27,553 ether within approximately four hours. The analytics firm traced the stolen funds through hundreds of wallets and confirmed a significant portion was converted into ether.
Reports indicate the stolen funds were laundered using ether and Monero.
Bitquery identified a transfer of 396 ether into a Kraken deposit address, though the firm could not determine if the exchange froze the funds or identify the account controller.
Investigator rules out Lazarus Group involvement
ZachXBT stated he has a high degree of confidence that the North Korean hacking collective known as the Lazarus Group was not responsible for this attack.
Allegations of delayed disclosure and lost recovery
ZachXBT alleged that the bank is covering up the theft and that a lack of disclosure prevented law enforcement from freezing approximately $30 million in stolen funds. This amount represents roughly 23% of the total stolen funds.
ZachXBT stated, "No proper incident disclosure has resulted in $30M+ being laundered away which could have been frozen by EU law enforcement".
Crédit Mutuel Arkéa profile and regulatory status
Crédit Mutuel Arkéa is a French banking institution that holds $235 billion in assets.
In May, the bank applied for a license under the European Union's MiCA crypto rulebook. The application aimed to offer cryptocurrency services to retail customers and provide white-label services through its Arkéa Banking Services division.
Frequently Asked Questions
- ZachXBT names French bank Crédit Mutuel Arkéa in $133M crypto exchange theft (coindesk.com)
- ZachXBT Names French Bank Crédit Mutuel Arkéa as Alleged Victim of $133M Crypto Theft (decrypt.co)
- ZachXBT Tracked a $133M Crypto Theft for Two Days. Then He Named the Victim (beincrypto.com)
- Crédit Mutuel Arkéa Crypto Theft: ZachXBT Cites $133M (bitcoinfoundation.org)
- ZachXBT Names Crédit Mutuel Arkéa In $133M Theft (blockchainreporter.net)
- Zachxbt Names French Bank As Alleged Victim In $133M Crypto Theft (menafn.com)
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