Uranium Finance hacker found guilty of $53M crypto theft
A jury has found Jonathan Spalletta guilty of stealing more than $53 million from Uranium Finance, a decentralized crypto exchange he attacked twice in April 2021. The losses forced the platform to shut down.
Spalletta is a 36-year-old from Maryland who used the online handles "Jspalletta" and "Cthulhon." He surrendered to law enforcement on March 30 and was charged with computer fraud and money laundering. He now faces up to 10 years in prison on the computer fraud charge and up to 20 years for money laundering.
Uranium ran as an automated market maker (AMM) on Binance's BNB Chain. An AMM is a type of decentralized exchange that relies on smart contracts and pooled user funds, known as liquidity pools, to set prices and complete trades. No traditional order book or intermediary is involved. Court documents say Spalletta took nearly $53.3 million in cryptocurrency from the platform, which left it without the funds to keep operating.