New York has convicted a cybersecurity consultant of stealing nearly US$55 million in cryptocurrency through two attacks on the platform Uranium Finance. Jonathan Spalletta was found guilty by a jury on October 7 after just over two hours of deliberation. Prosecutors allege that Spalletta exploited publicly available functions in the exchange's smart contracts to siphon the funds, rather than using traditional hacking methods like spoofed credentials or malicious code.
Spalletta faces up to 20 years in prison for money laundering, specifically for using crypto mixers like Tornado Cash to obscure the stolen funds. His sentencing is scheduled for February 16, 2027. The case gained additional attention due to Spalletta's lavish purchases, which included rare collectibles like Pokémon and Magic: The Gathering cards. Authorities seized over US$3 million worth of these items from his Maryland home, along with approximately US$31 million in cryptocurrency.
Among his other acquisitions, Spalletta spent more than US$600,000 on an ancient Roman coin marking the assassination of Julius Caesar and US$137,000 on a piece of the original Wright brothers Flyer that had been carried to the moon by Neil Armstrong. Defense lawyers argued that Spalletta did not technically hack the exchange, as he used built-in functions of its smart contracts rather than deploying malicious code.