Headline: Blockchain sleuth says EU-based entity may have lost $106M as funds flow into ether and Monero A blockchain investigator known as ZachXBT says an unidentified entity in the European Union may have lost more than $106 million worth of crypto after funds were withdrawn from accounts at multiple exchanges on Sunday. What happened - According to a Telegram alert from ZachXBT on Monday, the suspected attacker pulled large amounts of USDC and USDT — two dollar-pegged stablecoins — and rapidly moved the proceeds across chains and tokens. - Over the next 24 hours the funds were partially swapped into ether (ETH), routed through instant-exchange services including WellWallet and Kyrrez, and some were converted into Monero (XMR) via the Wagyu service. Why this matters - Stablecoins like USDC and USDT have centralized issuers that can freeze tokens in some cases; ether and Monero do not. Monero in particular is privacy-focused, obscuring transaction details and making tracing stolen funds substantially harder. - ZachXBT published 11 wallet addresses he links to the suspected theft, but did not name the victim, the implicated exchanges, or explain how the accounts were accessed. Caveats and next steps - The losses and the attribution are reported by ZachXBT and have not been independently confirmed. He also said one prominent suspect has been ruled out. - If accurate, the sequence of swaps and use of instant-exchange and privacy services underscores how quickly stolen assets can be layered across protocols to frustrate recovery and law enforcement efforts. The incident highlights ongoing security and custody risks for institutional and retail crypto holders, and the forensic challenges investigators face when illicit proceeds are moved into privacy coins and cross-chain services. Read more AI-generated news on: https://app.chaingpt.org/news