US Authorities Seize $31M in Crypto Linked to Uranium Finance Hack

US authorities have seized $31 million worth of cryptocurrency linked to the 2021 hack of Uranium Finance, a decentralized finance (DeFi) platform. The seizure, announced on Feb. 24, was the result of a collaborative effort between the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York and the Homeland Security Investigations in San Diego, California.

The hack, which occurred in April 2021, saw an unknown assailant exploit bugs within the software code of Uranium Finance’s v2 smart contracts. This allowed the hacker to inflate the project’s balance by a factor of 100 and extract funds, totaling around $50 million. The stolen funds included various cryptocurrencies such as BNB, BUSD, BTC, ETH, DOT, USDT, ADA, and Uranium’s native coin, U92.

The hacker then converted some of the stolen Polkadot and Cardano tokens into Ether, which were subsequently laundered through the crypto mixer Tornado Cash and transferred to centralized crypto exchanges. Additionally, the hacker exploited Uranium’s v1 platform pool on April 8, 2021, stealing an additional $1.3 million worth of BNB and BUSD.

Uranium Finance, a BNB Chain fork of automated market maker Uniswap, launched its first version on April 1, 2021. The platform’s website shuttered after the attack on April 28, 2021, and its X account hasn’t made a post since April 30, 2021. This left victims stranded without answers or a pathway to financial restitution until the recent seizure.

One of the administrators of Uranium’s Discord channel claimed around the time of the hack that it may have been an inside job. However, authorities have not provided details on who the hackers were and have asked victims of the incident to contact them.

The seizure of $31 million in cryptocurrency tied to the 2021 Uranium Finance hack is a significant development in the ongoing effort to combat cybercrime in the cryptocurrency industry. As DeFi platforms continue to grow in popularity, it is essential for investors to remain vigilant and for platforms to prioritize security measures to protect users’ assets.