Uranium Finance hacker convicted over DeFi exploits and laundering

A Manhattan federal jury has convicted Jonathan Spalletta, a cybersecurity consultant, of computer fraud and money laundering. The charges stem from two exploits that drained Uranium Finance, a decentralized finance exchange that collapsed after the attacks in April 2021. The jury took roughly two hours to reach its verdict on October 7, 2026. For a six-day trial about smart contracts, liquidity pools and crypto laundering, that counts as a brisk afternoon. Two attacks, one dead exchange Prosecutors laid out a pair of exploits that hit Uranium Finance within weeks of each other. The first came on April 8, 2021. In that attack, Spalletta abused a smart-contract function that tracked rewards, taking about $1.4 million. The second attack, on April 28, did far more damage. It drained approximately $53.3 million from 26 liquidity pools. Uranium Finance shut down after the attacks. Spalletta went by the online handles “Cthulhon” and “Jspalletta.” US District Judge Jed S. Rakoff presided over the trial in Manhattan. From Tornado Cash to Julius Caesar Spalletta laundered a significant portion of the proceeds between 2021 and 2023. Roughly $26 million moved through Tornado Cash, a crypto mi...