- U.S. authorities have seized approximately $31 million in cryptocurrency linked to the 2021 Uranium Finance hack
- The recovery was a collaborative effort between the Southern District of New York (SDNY) and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) in San Diego
- The 2021 attack exploited a vulnerability in Uranium Finance’s smart contracts, resulting in the theft of around $50 million in various tokens
U.S. law enforcement agencies have successfully recovered about $31 million in cryptocurrency connected to the notorious 2021 Uranium Finance hack. This operation was jointly conducted by the Southern District of New York (SDNY) and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) based in San Diego. The breach, which occurred in April 2021, saw cybercriminals exploit a flaw in Uranium Finance’s smart contract code, leading to the misappropriation of approximately $50 million in digital assets.
Transition Hack Led to Loss
Uranium Finance, a decentralized finance (DeFi) platform operating on Binance’s BNB Chain, was a fork of the popular automated market maker Uniswap. The platform aimed to provide users with seamless token swaps and liquidity provision services. However, during its transition to version 2.1 in April 2021, a critical vulnerability was introduced into its smart contract code, a flaw which allowed attackers to artificially inflate their balances and siphon off funds from the platform’s liquidity pools.
In total, the hackers absconded with assets including 80 bitcoins (BTC), 1,800 ether (ETH), 17.9 million Binance USD (BUSD), 5.7 million Tether (USDT), 638,000 Cardano (ADA), 26,500 Polkadot (DOT), 34,000 Wrapped BNB (wBNB), and 112,000 of Uranium’s native token, U92.
Following the breach, the perpetrators employed sophisticated laundering techniques to obfuscate the origin of the stolen funds. These methods included utilizing crypto mixers like Tornado Cash to anonymize transactions and transferring assets across multiple blockchain networks. The complexity of these maneuvers posed significant challenges to investigators attempting to trace and recover the illicit gains.
The recent recovery of $31 million was revealed by the X account for the Attorney General for the Southern District of New York:
SDNY and @HSISanDiego seize cryptocurrency worth approximately $31 million related to April 2021 hack of Uranium Finance. If you believe you have been a victim of this hack, please contact UraniumVictims@hsi.dhs.gov.
— US Attorney SDNY (@SDNYnews) February 24, 2025
No details have been given yet of how the funds were recovered, but the recovery signifies a substantial advancement in the ongoing efforts to address cybercrimes within the cryptocurrency sector. While this amount represents a portion of the total funds stolen, it underscores the increasing proficiency of law enforcement agencies in navigating the complexities of digital asset investigations.
