Canadian math prodigy allegedly stole US$65M in crypto

Summary

Andean Medjedovic was 18 years old when he made a decision that would irrevocably alter the course of his life.In the fall of 2021, shortly after completing a master’s degree at the University of Waterloo, the math prodigy and cryptocurrency trader from Hamilton had conducted a complex series of transactions designed to exploit a vulnerability in the code of a decentralized finance platform. The manoeuvre had allegedly allowed him to siphon approximately US$16.5-million in digital tokens out of two liquidity pools operated by the platform, Indexed Finance, according to a U.S. court document.Indexed Finance’s leaders traced the attack back to Mr. Medjedovic, and made him an offer: Return 90 per cent of the funds, keep the rest as a so-called “bug bounty” – a reward for having identified an error in the code – and all would be forgiven. Mr. Medjedovic would then be free to launch his career as a white hat, or ethical, hacker.Mr. Medjedovic didn’t take the deal. His social media posts hinted, without overtly stating, that he believed that because he had operated within the confines of the code, he was entitled to the funds – a controversial philosophy in the world of decentralized finance known as “Code is Law.” But instead of testing that argument in court, Mr. Medjedovic went into hiding. By the time authorities arrived on a quiet residential street in Hamilton to search his parents’ townhouse less than two months later, Mr. Medjedovic had moved out, taking his electronic devices with him.Then, roughly two years later, he struck again, netting an even larger sum – approximately US$48.4-million – by conducting a similar exploit on another decentralized finance platform, U.S. authorities allege.Mr. Medjedovic, now 22, faces five criminal charges – including wire fraud, attempted extortion and money laundering – according to a U.S. federal court document that was unsealed earlier this year. If convicted, he could be facing decades in prison.First, authorities will have ...