Alleged Uranium Finance Hacker Faces 30 Years in Prison Over $54 Million Theft

Uranium Finance, a Uniswap-inspired decentralized exchange built on BNB Chain, was attacked twice after launching in April 2021. The attacker exploited flaws in the smart contract’s withdrawal and reward calculations to remove excess crypto assets from liquidity pools. The resulting depletion of funds ultimately forced the platform to close, underscoring how DeFi coding flaws can translate directly into investor losses.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York announced charges on March 30, 2026, accusing Jonathan Spalletta, a 36-year-old Maryland man, of stealing about $1.4 million on April 8, 2021, and about $53.3 million from 26 liquidity pools on April 28. Authorities seized about $31 million in crypto assets in February 2025. He faces computer fraud and money-laundering charges carrying a combined statutory maximum sentence of 30 years.