US Government Crypto Wallet Hack
Reported outflow
$20.0M
Unauthorized wallet transfers
What happened
On October 24, 2024, assets valued at roughly $20 million moved from a U.S. government-linked Ethereum wallet holding funds associated with the Bitfinex seizure. Arkham identified USDT, USDC, aUSDC and ETH transfers and subsequent stablecoin conversions. Reporting described the activity as suspected theft.
Approximately $19.3 million returned the following day; the authorization failure and final net loss were not established.
Technical root cause
The wallet authorization failure remains unknown. The observed transfers do not establish a private-key theft or a vulnerability in Aave.
How it happened
- Assets left the government-linked wallet, including funds withdrawn from Aave, for a newly active recipient.
- The recipient converted stablecoins into ETH and routed assets through other addresses. Arkham interpreted the movements as malicious activity.
- Approximately $19.3 million returned within a day, according to reporting citing Arkham.
Protocol details
Classification
Wallet Security Incident
Protocol Type
Other
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