French bank Arkea confirms cyberattack after reported $133M crypto theft

Blockchain investigator alleges hackers laundered more than $30M before authorities were alerted

French banking group Credit Mutuel Arkea confirmed Wednesday that it had suffered a cyberattack involving fraudulent transactions, French broadcaster BFMTV reported. The confirmation came after blockchain investigator ZachXBT reported that hackers had stolen more than $133 million and laundered part of the funds through cryptocurrency platforms. The bank did not confirm the reported amount, saying the incident had no financial consequences for its customers. ZachXBT said the attack lasted several days and involved funds transferred through cryptocurrency exchanges and converted into stablecoins, digital assets designed to maintain a value pegged to currencies such as the US dollar. He alleged that delays in alerting authorities allowed hackers to launder more than $30 million that could otherwise have been frozen by European authorities. The bank said its teams acted immediately after detecting the attack and temporarily suspended some transactions as a precaution to secure operations and prevent further fraudulent transfers. The reported scale of the theft could not be independently verified. Arkea, headquartered in Brittany in western France, said the attack had been brought under control.