Hackers Steal $140M in Shocking Brazil Bank Breach Using $3,000 Credentials

Hackers used $3K credentials to steal $140M from Brazil banks, triggering a massive crypto laundering investigation.

Fridah Kangai
July 16, 2025
1:30 pm

Fridah Kangai

Fridah Kangai is a dedicated crypto journalist with a sharp eye for market trends, blockchain innovation, and digital asset movements. She specializes in breaking down complex topics into clear, engaging stories for both seasoned investors and curious newcomers. With a passion for decentralization and a pulse on the ever-evolving crypto space, Fridah delivers timely, accurate, and insightful coverage. Her work bridges the gap between technology and everyday understanding in the world of cryptocurrency.

Hackers breach Brazil banks with $3,000 credentials, steal millions.
$140M stolen, $5M frozen as crypto laundering spreads fast.
Investigators track stolen funds across multiple exchanges and blockchains.

A major security breach has hit Brazil’s banking sector after hackers stole $140 million using insider credentials bought for only $3,000. The attackers exploited access to C&M, a software provider linked to the Central Bank of Brazil and six financial institutions.

The certifications allowed access to core banking systems. No alerts to the operation were set, and the funds could be transferred without immediate detection.

As blockchain analyst ZachXBT said, hackers swiftly traded approximately $40 million in Bitcoin, Ethereum, and USDT. These were carried out in various exchanges, ensuring that the path was difficult to trace during the initial hours of the breach.

A recent cyberattack on the Central Bank of Brazil services provider C&M resulted in a breach to the reserve accounts of six financial institutions where attackers converted stolen fiat to crypto.

I began working on an initiative that has helped freeze ~$5M across multiple…
— ZachXBT (@zachxbt) July 14, 2025

At about the same time the breach happened, he observed abnormal trading on the Brazilian exchanges. ZachXBT followed the wallet movements manually by on-chain analysis and linked the flows to the stolen funds.

Exchanges Freeze $5 Million as Crypto Trail Spreads

The seizing of the stolen crypto has already resulted in about $5 million of frozen crypto. This was in conjunction with Binance, Bybit, Bitso, Tether, and the Chainalysis CF Investigators team.

These exchanges blocked the wallets that ZachXBT identified. Nevertheless, this does not mean that a significant amount of money has gone inactive on different chains and remains in unknown places.

He also disclosed that Circle had declined to help in the recovery process. According to ZachXBT, the leadership of Circle did not care about the safety of the crypto industry as a whole.

Most of the wallets have not been flagged; they still transfer money. The cumulative magnitude of laundering may be above what has been identified or frozen up to now.

Brazilian officials have made no official announcements regarding the suspects or arrests related to the stolen cryptocurrency. Until now, C&M and the Central Bank have not provided more technical information about the breach and how long they had access.

Only a small portion of the stolen money has been frozen. Most are still under investigation because hackers transfer funds between platforms and blockchains.

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