TEL AVIV, ISRAEL — Alexander Gurevich, a dual Russian-Israeli citizen, was arrested last week at Ben Gurion Airport while allegedly attempting to flee to Russia using falsified identity documents. Israeli authorities say he was detained in connection with the $190 million Nomad bridge hack, one of the most significant crypto exploits of 2022.
According to U.S. prosecutors, Gurevich is accused of initiating the attack by exploiting a vulnerability in Nomad’s smart contracts, stealing $2.89 million in cryptocurrency. His actions reportedly triggered a chain reaction, with copycat attackers eventually draining the protocol’s reserves.
The Nomad bridge, a blockchain interoperability tool, collapsed shortly after the attack, and the incident became emblematic of rising cyber threats targeting decentralized finance (DeFi) platforms.
Gurevich’s digital trail also includes an alleged Telegram message to the Nomad team, in which he demanded a $500,000 bounty, possibly as an attempt to retroactively frame the attack as white-hat hacking.
He now faces extradition to the United States, where he will be charged with money laundering and computer-related offenses. If convicted, Gurevich could face up to 20 years in federal prison.
The case underscores the growing international cooperation between cybercrime units and blockchain forensics teams, as governments ramp up enforcement actions against crypto-enabled financial crimes.