Hackers Behind $140M Brazil Banking Heist Turn to Crypto to Launder Their Loot
ZachXBT estimates that between $30 million and $40 million has been swapped to crypto through OTC desks and exchanges.
Jul 4, 2025, 3:08 p.m.
A group of hackers that gained unauthorized access to the Central Bank of Brazil’s service provider has started laundering a portion of its $140 million haul using cryptocurrencies, according to On-chain analyst ZachXBT.
The researcher revealed on Friday that between $30 million and $40 million of the stolen funds was converted to bitcoin
, ether
and Tether’s USDT through Latin American over-the-counter desks and crypto exchanges.
The June 30 cyberattack on C&M Software involved a group of attackers bribing an employee into revealing their corporate credentials. Six financial institutions including BMP experienced unauthorized access to their reserve accounts as a result.
The method mirrors a recent cyberattack on crypto exchange Coinbase (COIN), which said that 69,000 customers were affected after customer service agents were bribed into revealing customer information.
Brazil had previously been warming up to crypto; lawmakers in February proposed a bill to allow investment funds to gain exposure in digital assets.
While the Central Bank of Brazil attack involved fiat currency, the use of cryptocurrency to conceal and launder the funds is an example of the industry’s dark truth when it comes to hacks and scams.
A recent report by crypto security firm CertiK revealed that crypto investors lost $2.5 billion to hacks and scams in the first half of 2025.
Oliver Knight
Oliver Knight is the co-leader of CoinDesk data tokens and data team. Before joining CoinDesk in 2022 Oliver spent three years as the chief reporter at Coin Rivet. He first started investing in bitcoin in 2013 and spent a period of his career working at a market making firm in the UK. He does not currently have any crypto holdings.
