Blockchain Sluce ZachxBT has revealed that the victim of the recent $330 million Bitcoin (BTC) theft is an elderly American citizen targeted for social engineering attacks.
An exploit marks one of the largest known crypto thefts from an individual. Zachxbt has tracked down 3,520 stolen BTC worth around $330 million for suspicious transactions carried out over the weekend.
The attackers moved funds out of the victim’s wallet, routed them through at least six central exchanges, and eventually converted Bitcoin to Monero (XMR), a privacy-centric cryptography known for obscuring the transaction trail.
This swap has resulted in a 50% surge in Monero’s prices due to thin liquidity and mass.
Social Engineering Attacks
Onchain investigators said the incident was attributed to social engineering. This involves attackers manipulating the victim to exploit human trust rather than technical vulnerability to hand over wallet access.
Zachxbt suggests that stolen bitcoin originated from “interesting sources” and that the funds could have been held for years or acquired through early, few undocumented transactions.
Social engineering attacks are becoming increasingly common in the crypto sector, particularly against wealthy individuals.
Unlike protocol-level exploits, these schemes often rely on deceptions via phishing emails, fake support channels, or spoofing to retrieve private keys or recovery phrases.
Regulatory concerns
Theft staves back all other crypto losses reported this month. Before ZachxBT’s disclosure, blockchain security company Immunefi had recorded $92.5 million in losses from various exploits and fraud in April.
This single incident means that the month totals over $420 million, adding new urgency to enhance user protection and exchange monitoring. The multiple exchange laundry process has raised new questions about industry compliance gaps.
US regulators are putting pressure on trading platforms to strengthen client (KYC) and money laundering anti-money laundering (AML) procedures, but such well-known cases suggest that enforcement is inconsistent.
So far, US law enforcement has not publicly permitted investigations. However, the use of regulated exchanges and the scale of crime can spark federal attention.
Zachxbt continues to monitor funding flows and is seeking a platform to identify accounts involved in the laundry process.
