The U.S. Justice Department has charged 22-year-old Canadian national Andean Medjedovic for allegedly stealing $65 million by exploiting vulnerabilities in two decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols.
DeFi platforms operate on blockchain technology, allowing users to trade, lend, and invest digital assets without traditional banks. Medjedovic is accused of manipulating smart contracts on KyberSwap and Indexed Finance, draining $48.4 million from 77 KyberSwap liquidity pools and $16.5 million from Indexed Finance pools on the Ethereum network.
Following the November 2023 KyberSwap exploit, he allegedly attempted to extort victims, offering to return half of the stolen assets in exchange for control over the KyberSwap protocol. According to the DOJ, he executed deceptive trades that manipulated smart contract calculations, allowing him to withdraw digital assets at artificially inflated prices, rendering investors’ funds worthless. He then laundered the stolen funds using fake crypto exchange accounts, a cryptocurrency mixer, and bridging transactions to obscure the money trail.
Medjedovic faces five federal charges, including wire fraud, unauthorized damage to a protected computer, attempted extortion, and money laundering. If convicted, he could face up to 20 years in prison for each charge, except for the computer-related offense, which carries a 10-year maximum sentence.
