Crédit Mutuel Arkéa confirmed it had been attacked after ZachXBT named it in a claim of crypto theft exceeding $133 million, while saying its customers suffered no financial losses.
The French banking group told CoinDesk on Wednesday that the attack, which led to fraudulent transactions, had been contained. The bank said it had temporarily halted some transactions to prevent further losses and notified the relevant authorities.
The bank previously singled out by ZachXBT maintained that customers’ interests were fully protected. However, it did not disclose the amount of the loss or whether the funds were initially held as fiat or cryptocurrency, saying it was continuing to assess the consequences of the incident.
Bank confirms attack but does not disclose loss amount
The estimated loss of more than $133 million comes from on-chain investigator ZachXBT. In his initial estimate, the researcher had put the amount at more than $106 million, then included an additional $27 million in withdrawals he identified from centralized crypto exchanges.
ZachXBT says the total could be higher when over-the-counter transactions are also taken into account. The bank’s new statement confirms the attack but does not verify this estimated amount.
108.8 million USDC withdrawn from three exchanges in 21 hours
Blockchain analytics firm Bitquery identified a total of 108.8 million USDC withdrawn within 21 hours on November 1 and 2 from accounts at Kraken, Crypto.com, and OKX. According to the company’s analysis, the funds passed through hundreds of wallets, and a significant portion was converted into ETH.
While USDC’s issuer can freeze tokens at specific addresses, there is no centralized issuer that can freeze ETH balances in the same way. As a result, the conversion affects the ability of organizations trying to stop the funds to intervene.
Crypto.com said it had taken steps to prevent funds linked to the incident from moving through its platform. The exchange also said its own users’ assets were safe and accessible.
ZachXBT sees a low likelihood of Lazarus involvement this time
ZachXBT said he was highly confident that North Korea-linked Lazarus Group was not behind the attack, citing differences in how the funds were moved. This assessment is based on the researcher’s analysis; the bank’s statement did not identify the attackers.
Arkéa is also among the banks preparing to enter the crypto services market. French financial publication L’Agefi reported in May that the group had applied for a license under MiCA to offer crypto services to retail customers and financial institutions.
Not investment advice.