"Crypto Mastermind, 22, Charged with $65M DeFi Heists"

U.S. prosecutors have charged a 22-year-old Canadian man, Andean "Andy" Medjedovic, with stealing a combined $65 million in crypto through two separate decentralized finance (DeFi) hacks. The indictment, filed in the Eastern District of New York (EDNY), alleges that Medjedovic was the mastermind behind both exploits, targeting Indexed Finance and KyberSwap.

Medjedovic's alleged role in the KyberSwap exploit was previously unknown, but he has publicly admitted to being the Indexed Finance attacker. In 2021, when he was still a teenager, he wiped $16 million from the DeFi platform. Medjedovic believed he wasn't doing anything illegal, a stance similar to that of Avraham "Avi" Eisenberg, who claimed that siphoning $110 million from Mango Markets in 2022 was fair game. However, a New York jury disagreed, finding Eisenberg guilty of fraud and market manipulation.

Medjedovic has been on the run since December 2021, when a Canadian court issued a warrant for his arrest. He told a DeFi Llama reporter in 2023 that living as a fugitive was "exhausting," having bounced around through Europe, South America, and an unnamed island nation. Eight months after claiming to be a whitehat hacker, prosecutors say Medjedovic stole about $50 million from KyberSwap. According to the indictment, Medjedovic planned the hack for months, writing to himself "Find time to Strike!" and creating a "POST-EXPLOITATION" plan.

Medjedovic has been charged with one count of wire fraud, one count of unauthorized damage to a protected computer, one count of attempted Hobbs Act extortion, one count of money laundering conspiracy, and one count of money laundering. He faces a maximum penalty of 90 years in prison.