In the US, a hacker who breached two cryptocurrency services on the Solana blockchain was sentenced to three years in prison. This marks the first-ever sentence related to an attack on a smart contract of a decentralized cryptocurrency exchange.
In 2022, a security specialist named Shakib Ahmed exploited a vulnerability related to flash loans (instant loans that do not require collateral) in two crypto services—presumably Nirvana Finance and Crema Finance—and managed to extract approximately $12.3 million. In the second instance, he agreed to return the stolen tokens in exchange for a reward of $1.5 million.
He was arrested in July 2023. According to the charges, after returning most of the crypto assets, Ahmed searched Google for information on “network fraud,” “concealment of evidence,” and “proof of malicious intent.” His other search queries included “can you cross the border with cryptocurrency” and “buying citizenship.”
