Suspected $133 Million Crypto Theft Hits Unnamed EU Entity

An unnamed entity in the European Union is suspected of losing more than $133 million from several of its accounts on centralized exchanges, according to on-chain investigator ZachXBT. While initial reports on Monday, November 2, 2026, estimated the loss at more than $106 million, ZachXBT later updated the figure after tracing an additional $27 million-plus in centralized exchange withdrawals by the same actor.

Details of the Theft and Asset Movement

According to ZachXBT, the funds were withdrawn as USDC and USDT stablecoins on Sunday, November 1. The actor, described as an "illicit actor," moved the funds aggressively to cover their tracks within 24 hours. The movement of assets included several specific steps:

• The actor swapped USDC for ETH.
• Funds were sent through instant exchange services, including WellWallet and Kyrrex.
• A portion of the funds was converted to the privacy coin Monero via Wagyu.
• Assets were bridged across multiple blockchains.

Data from Lookonchain indicated that a wallet identified as 0x9EcA spent $37.96 million of USDC to purchase 16,658 ETH in a two-hour window, with the total spend reaching $62.97 million at an average price of $2,286. The Ethereum ledger shows that wallet 0x9EcA passed almost all of its ETH on within hours of the purchase. As of 14:35 UTC, one wallet (0x65C3) held 7,844 ETH, valued at approximately $18 million at a price of $2,290.

Allegations of a Cover-Up

ZachXBT has offered a working theory that "a large financial institution in Western Europe was exploited and it’s currently being covered up." The investigator stated that "No proper incident disclosure has resulted in $30M+ being laundered away which could have been frozen by EU law enforcement."

As of the latest reports, no institution, exchange, or regulator has publicly confirmed or denied a loss. ZachXBT noted that the lack of disclosure may have prevented authorities from freezing funds that could have otherwise been recovered.

Context of Recent Crypto Security Incidents

This incident follows a period of significant security breaches in the cryptocurrency industry. On October 29, a hack of Binance's hot wallets resulted in a $6.4 billion loss, which the FBI has attributed to TraderTraitor, a North Korean hacking group. In that instance, stablecoin issuers were able to act quickly; Tether froze stolen USDT on Ethereum in 37 minutes, and Circle froze $823 million in stolen USDC, according to blockchain analytics firm Elliptic.

Other recent incidents include:

• The Brazilian exchange Mercado Bitcoin reported a $40 million hack and halted withdrawals.
• BTCPay Server instructed merchants to switch off servers following reports of hot wallet attacks.

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Sources

• finance.yahoo.com: Mystery $106 Million Crypto Theft Hits EU Entity Days After Binance Hack
• unchainedcrypto.com: ZachXBT Suspects Cover-Up as Tally on Suspected EU Theft Climbs to $133 Million - Unchained
• 99bitcoins.com: Crypto Hack: $106M Thief Was the Whale Buying 27,553 ETH

This article was drafted with AI assistance and checked against the sources above. Company claims are reported as claims. Cover image is AI-generated.