Kraken Account Targeted in $18M Scam as Funds Bridge to Bitcoin

Blockchain investigator ZachXBT flagged the incident on March 31, 2026, via his Telegram channel, pointing to a coordinated theft followed by rapid asset transfers designed to obscure the trail. The attacker reportedly gained access through tactics commonly tied to phishing or impersonation schemes, rather than exploiting a technical flaw in the exchange itself.

Initial movements show funds being bridged from the Ethereum network to Bitcoin using Thorchain, a decentralized protocol that allows assets to move between blockchains without centralized intermediaries. Onchain data indicates that roughly 878 ether, valued at about $1.8 million at the time, was part of the early…