Kraken Restricts Accounts Amid Suspected $133 Million-Plus EU Theft

Kraken has restricted accounts while investigating reports that assets from a suspected EU crypto theft passed through its platform, the exchange told Cointelegraph. Onchain investigator ZachXBT now puts the incident at more than $133 million.

“This incident did not originate on the Kraken platform, and we’re actively investigating reports that some of the assets were subsequently moved through accounts on our platform,” Kraken told Cointelegraph. “We’ve restricted the accounts in question and are working with law enforcement to support recovery efforts.”

Kraken said its security systems had not been compromised and no customer accounts had been taken over. The statement gave no account count or value of restricted assets, leaving the amount available for recovery unclear.

ZachXBT said in his Nov. 3 Telegram update that he had identified an additional $27 million-plus in centralized-exchange withdrawals, some made after his initial disclosure. His Nov. 2 alert, previously reported by The Defiant, put the suspected loss at more than $106 million from multiple exchange accounts on Nov. 1. He has not named the affected EU entity.

Crypto.com separately told Cointelegraph it had taken action to block funds associated with the third-party incident from moving through its platform. It said its platform remained operational and all user funds were secure and accessible.

Recovery options also depend on the assets’ form. In an Ethereum-only analysis, blockchain analytics firm Bitquery found that $62.98 million in stablecoins had been swapped into $ETH in about four hours. $ETH has no issuer-controlled freeze function.

Bitquery reported that Tether had frozen 1.14 million USDT tied to the incident by its Nov. 3 snapshot. That freeze did not immobilize the $ETH held at the same address, it said.