- Authorities in Israel have arrested Alexander Gurevich in connection with the $190 million Nomad Bridge hack in 2022
- Gurevich has been charged with computer crimes and money laundering, and is facing extradition to the United States
- Gurevich allegedly exploited a smart contract vulnerability, withdrawing $2.89 million before others mimicked the attack
Alexander Gurevich, a dual Russian-Israeli national, has been detained in Israel for his alleged role in the massive $190 million Nomad Bridge exploit. Gurevich is accused of initiating the breach that exposed a vulnerability in Nomad’s smart contract in August 2022, allowing him to steal nearly $3 million. U.S. prosecutors have charged him and are seeking his extradition to face trial.
$190 Million Exploit
The Nomad Bridge hack was one of the most chaotic exploits in DeFi history, triggered by a simple but critical misconfiguration in the project’s smart contract. A code update inadvertently marked all messages as valid by default, effectively removing the need for proper verification, allowing anyone with basic knowledge to copy a legitimate transaction, change the wallet address, and rerun it—resulting in unauthorized withdrawals. The first attacker exploited this vulnerability and siphoned millions of dollars, which quickly set off a frenzy of copycat attacks. Because the exploit didn’t require custom code, hundreds of opportunists joined in, draining the protocol of over $190 million within hours.
Nomad scrambled to limit the damage by setting up a recovery wallet and appealing to the so-called “white hat” hackers who had claimed funds with the intent to return them. Around $36 million was eventually recovered, leaving the majority with the exploiters.
Arrest in Israel
After the hack, Gurevich reportedly contacted Nomad’s CTO, James Prestwich, via Telegram under a false identity. In those messages, he admitted to discovering the vulnerability and expressed regret over the disruption. He returned $162,000 to a recovery wallet but later demanded a $500,000 bounty for his “research.” When Nomad counter-offered 10% of the total taken, Gurevich cut off all communication.
Having presumably long believed he had gotten away with his crime, Gurevich must have been shocked to have been arrested at Israel’s Ben-Gurion Airport on May 1 while trying to board a flight to Russia under the alias “Alexander Block,” a name he had recently adopted. Gurevich’s decision to catch a flight was a risk, given that the U.S. Department of Justice indicted him on multiple counts, including wire fraud and money laundering, in August 2023. U.S. authorities have now started the extradition process and hope to secure Gurevich in the coming weeks.
