Fallout from Shibarium Hack: Criticism Towards Shiba Inu Team for Lack of Reporting

In the wake of the Shibarium Bridge hack, which saw over $3 million drained from users, fresh criticisms have emerged regarding the Shiba Inu team's delay in engaging law enforcement. Despite three months passing since the incident, formal police involvement has yet to materialize.

Key Takeaways

The Shibarium Bridge hack resulted in over $3 million being stolen.
Investigators tracked the funds, revealing a complex laundering process.
Exchanges are unwilling to assist without a formal police report.
Community members are calling for action from the Shiba Inu team regarding reporting the incident.

Shibarium

Insights from On-Chain Investigations

According to investigations by on-chain analysts, the attacker transferred 260 ETH through Tornado Cash, later sending 232.49 ETH to deposit accounts at KuCoin. This laundering took place across 111 wallets and involved 45 unique KuCoin deposits, as detailed by a community investigator known as Shima.

"The Shibarium Bridge hacker foolishly chose not to accept the K9 bounty. It’s finally time to share our investigation findings...🔎 This is juicy 🤤," tweeted Shima.

Surprisingly, the hacker made a minor mistake—one transfer of 0.0874 ETH—linking hidden wallets and enabling Shima to reveal much of the money laundering operation. This information was shared with the Shiba Inu team to advocate for fund recovery.

"Why hasn’t their team contacted the police? Why is there no report filed to obtain a case number?” questioned Pulse Digital on Twitter.

Shibarium Investigation

Challenges in Recovery Efforts

Tracing funds through mixers like Tornado Cash can be particularly challenging. Even if the transaction records offer clues, exchanges often require legal documentation—such as a subpoena or a police report—to provide account information.

This presents a significant hurdle for recovery efforts, especially if no police report is filed. While community investigators can gather evidence, the next steps often hinge on formal legal action and international cooperation.

After Shima provided its findings to the Shiba Inu team, members from the community, including K9 Finance, attempted to intervene. One individual, known as DeFi Turtle, reached out to KuCoin requesting to freeze the suspected funds.

However, KuCoin stated it would only take action if there was a formal law enforcement case number. Without this, they could not share internal records or freeze any accounts linked to the hack.

Faced with limited cooperation from institutional entities, Shima has made the data and methodologies available to victims and any law enforcement agency willing to respond. Victims across different countries may need to file local complaints to obtain the case numbers necessary for exchanges to act.

Shane Cook, founder of Pulse Digital Marketing, expressed concerns over why the Shiba Inu team had not submitted an official report, especially considering the evidence collected. Although the team acknowledged the breach and mentioned their contact with security firms like PeckShield and Hexens, Cook argues that a legal filing is often essential for exchanges to act cooperatively.

The community is now left wondering if the Shiba Inu project has prioritized reopening the bridge and planning repayments over seeking necessary legal recourse.

Featured image from Hacked.com, chart from TradingView