ZachXBT tracks Brazilian bank hack tied to $140M theft, criticizes Circle’s industry role

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ZachXBT slams Circle for lack of cooperation in protecting the crypto industry.

ZachXBT confirmed his involvement in investigating a cyberattack targeting Brazilian financial institutions. He stated that a breach at C&M, a Central Bank of Brazil services provider, exposed reserve accounts across six banks, with attackers moving stolen fiat into crypto.

He said he manually traced the theft, examining volume spikes on Brazilian exchanges and tracking hot wallet outflows on June 30 since no official alerts surfaced. He estimated that although $140 million in fiat was reportedly taken, about $40 million entered crypto markets, from which around $5 million has been frozen across platforms, including Tether, Binance, Bitso, Bybit, and Chainalysis, as noted in his initial post.

Responding to a comment that praised private sector collaboration except for Circle, ZachXBT alleged that Circle leadership “does not actually care about the industry.” His remark exhibits his frustration over gaps in coordination among crypto firms during investigations.

He also described the work as extremely time-consuming, adding that the $5 million figure reflects only funds successfully frozen so far and that losses tied to the hack could ultimately be higher as more funds are traced. He reiterated this point in several replies, clarifying that his estimates remain preliminary.

A developer claimed an insider sold access credentials for $3,000, giving attackers entry to systems and facilitating the breach. ZachXBT confirmed this aligned with reports and that losses could genuinely be as high as $140 million.