ZachXBT Attributes More Than $133 Million in Theft to Arkéa Incident
What happened: Onchain investigator ZachXBT identified French bank Crédit Mutuel Arkéa as the suspected victim of a crypto theft exceeding $133 million, adding $27 million to an initially traced $106
What happened: Onchain investigator ZachXBT identified French bank Crédit Mutuel Arkéa as the suspected victim of a crypto theft exceeding $133 million, adding $27 million to an initially traced $106 million. Reporting describes attackers reaching the bank through a service provider’s platform, while ZachXBT traced approximately $63 million converted to ether within four hours and expressed high confidence that the attacker was not associated with North Korea’s Lazarus Group. The bank said the breach was under control and clients would face no financial consequences, but it had not confirmed the investigator’s full loss estimate.
Why it matters: The distinction between the bank’s response and ZachXBT’s estimate is essential: acknowledging an incident does not independently validate every amount traced by an outside investigator. ZachXBT also alleged that delayed or improper disclosure allowed more than $30 million to be laundered, making the speed of coordination and potential freezes a central issue in his account, although that allegation requires separate substantiation. His assessment concerning Lazarus narrows his attribution claim without identifying a proven alternative perpetrator, so the case should not be assigned to a specific group on the supplied evidence.