"The attack lasted several days": $133 million stolen from Crédit Mutuel Arkéa, alleged delay in alert allowed pirates to launder $30 million

Crédit Mutuel Arkéa is in the spotlight. The French bank would be the victim of a hack of 133 million dollars laundered in cryptocurrencies. The information was revealed by blockchain investigator XachXTB, who regularly works in coordination with law enforcement to find traces of stolen cryptocurrencies.

On his Telegram account, the investigator first clarified that a financial institution was the victim of a theft of several million dollars. The funds were sent to cryptocurrency exchanges to be converted into the stablecoins USDC and USDT, the two largest stablecoins on the market. As a reminder, a stablecoin (or stable cryptocurrency) is a cryptocurrency backed by a fiat currency such as the euro or the dollar.

These cryptos are increasingly used to make fast payments and transfers at a lower cost, avoiding market fluctuations. “It would be Crédit Mutuel Arkéa, a French bank whose assets amount to 235 billion dollars, victim of a financial attack of more than 133 million dollars,” the investigator published this Wednesday, specifying that the attack “lasted several days”. Contacted by us, the investigator tells us that the amount stolen could be even greater, if the hackers “sent funds outside the blockchain”.

The investigator also points out an error by the financial institution concerned in notifying the authorities to stop the transfer of funds. “The lack of disclosure allowed the laundering of more than $30 million, which could have been frozen by European authorities,” explains ZachXTB. “Fraudulent operations” The bank based in Brittany declared to AFP this Wednesday that it had been the victim of a computer attack which allowed “fraudulent operations to be carried out”, but it did not confirm the amount of 133 million dollars mentioned by the investigator.

Among French banks, Crédit Mutuel Arkéa remains less advanced than other groups on the subject of cryptocurrencies. In May, however, the group submitted a European Mica approval file ("for Market in Crypto Assets"), with a view to being able to offer crypto services to its clients. The file still appears to be examined by the Financial Markets Authority (AMF).

“If you like money laundering, crime, anonymity, you will love cryptocurrencies,” declared Nicolas Théry, the president of Crédit Mutuel, in 2023.

Machine-translated from French