$2,800 bribe led to $148m hack of Brazilian finance firms; $40m laundered via crypto

On June 30, hackers executed a massive cyber‑theft by bribing a C&M Software employee—paid just R$15,000 (~US $2,760)—to gain access to its systems, enabling the breach of six Brazilian financial institutions’ reserve accounts and the extraction of approximately R$800 million (around US $140 million) . Blockchain sleuth ZachXBT estimates that roughly US $30 million–$40 million of the stolen funds were laundered into Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Tether via Latin American OTC desks and exchanges . In response, Brazil’s Central Bank swiftly suspended C&M’s PIX infrastructure access, froze about R$270 million (nearly US $50 million), and federal authorities arrested the insider while launching a coordinated probe with on‑chain investigators to recover assets and prevent further laundering