Hackers steal $ 21 million in cryptocurrency from Japanese mining pool

The Japanese mining pool SBI Crypto, a subsidiary of the SBI financial group, has probably fallen victim to a large-scale hack. According to a well-known online researcher ZachXBT, about $ 21 million in cryptocurrency was withdrawn from the company’s wallets. The stolen assets include Bitcoin BTC $122,465.00 Mezo Wrapped BTC 1.59% Market capitalization $43.11 million VOL. 24 hours $2.48 billion , Ethereum ETH $4,487.31 Bridged Ether (StarkGate) 0.07% Market capitalization $0.1 billion VOL. 24 hours $1.77 billion , Litecoin LTC $118.00 Litecoin 0.15% Market capitalization $9.01 billion VOL. 24 hours $93.24 million , Dogecoin DOGE $0.25 Binance-Peg Dogecoin -2.05% Market capitalization $0.64 billion VOL. 24 hours $0.36 billion , and Bitcoin Cash BCH $589.28 Bitcoin Cash -1.37% Market capitalization $11.75 billion VOL. 24 hours $20.87 million .

According to the investigation, the funds were transferred to five instant exchanges and then added to the Tornado Cash mixer. This scheme is in line with known methods previously used by hacker groups linked to North Korea. Blockchain security company Cyvers also joined the investigation. At the same time, SBI Crypto has not yet officially confirmed the hack.

This incident is a continuation of a series of attacks on crypto platforms in 2025. Most of them, according to experts, have traces of North Korean origin. The largest case was the hacking of the Bybit exchange in February, when hackers stole about $ 1.4 billion in ETH, which went down in history as one of the largest cryptocurrency crimes.

The growing number of such attacks is attracting the attention of regulators, in particular to mixing services that make it difficult to track stolen assets. Back in 2022, Tornado Cash was sanctioned by the US Treasury Department, although the restrictions were lifted in early 2025. At the same time, the US Department of Justice continued to prosecute the platform’s co-founder Roman Storm. In August 2025, a jury found him guilty of conspiracy to conduct an unregistered money business.