ZachXBT Points to Crédit Mutuel Arkéa After $133 Million Crypto Theft
Crédit Mutuel Arkéa says the fraud is under control; according to Bitquery, the money moved through Kraken, Crypto.com, and OKX, and part of it was converted into ether.
Key Takeaways
- ZachXBT points to Crédit Mutuel Arkéa as the likely victim of a crypto theft of more than $133 million.
- The bank confirmed fraudulent transactions, temporarily paused payments, and reported the case to the authorities.
- According to Bitquery, $108.8 million in USDC was drained over 21 hours through Kraken, Crypto.com, and OKX, and part of it was converted into ether.
Blockchain investigator ZachXBT has identified the French banking group Crédit Mutuel Arkéa as the likely victim of a crypto theft of more than $133 million (€119 million). The case started with a report of more than $106 million (€94.8 million), but later grew as new withdrawals from crypto exchanges came to light. According to ZachXBT, the final amount could be even higher if OTC transactions are also counted.
Bank Says Attack Is Under Control
Crédit Mutuel Arkéa confirmed the attack to CoinDesk on Wednesday. The bank said fraudulent transactions were carried out, but that the situation is now under control. According to a spokesperson, the bank temporarily froze some transactions to limit further losses and notified the relevant authorities.
The French cooperative bank manages more than $250 billion (€224 billion) in assets. It did not say exactly how much disappeared, or whether the stolen funds were originally held in traditional currency or in crypto. The bank did stress that customers would not bear any financial losses.
Withdrawals Through Major Exchanges
According to blockchain analytics firm Bitquery, $108.8 million (€97.3 million) in USDC was drained from accounts at Kraken, Crypto.com, and OKX over 21 hours on November 1 and 2. The funds were then tracked through hundreds of wallets, with a large portion converted into ether. That matters because ether cannot be frozen by a central issuer.
Bitquery also saw a transfer of 396 ETH to a Kraken deposit address, but could not determine whether Kraken froze the funds or who controlled the receiving account. Kraken and OKX did not respond right away to questions, while Crypto.com said it had taken steps to block money linked to the case.
Why This Matters for Europe
The case also affects the European crypto market, because earlier this year Crédit Mutuel Arkéa applied for a MiCA license to offer crypto services to retail customers and other financial institutions. MiCA is the EU's first broad crypto framework and sets out, among other things, how providers are approved and supervised. For European firms, this incident shows how closely traditional banks and crypto infrastructure are now tied together.
ZachXBT also said he has a high degree of confidence that North Korea's Lazarus Group was not behind this. The group has previously been linked to major crypto thefts, including the 2025 attack on Bybit.