Forsage Co-Founder Extradited to US Over $340M Crypto Scam; Multiple DeFi Exploits Hit Verus Bridge, ThorChain, Echo Protocol
A Ukrainian co-founder of the Forsage crypto Ponzi scheme has been extradited to the U.S., while separate exploits drained over $11M from Verus Bridge and $10.7M from ThorChain.
A Ukrainian national accused of co-founding the Forsage cryptocurrency Ponzi scheme has been extradited from Thailand to the United States to face fraud charges. Olena Oblamska, also known online as Lola Ferrari, pleaded not guilty in Oregon federal court after being charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud. The Forsage scheme, which operated on Ethereum, BNB Smart Chain, and Tron, allegedly defrauded investors of $340 million by funneling money from new investors to earlier participants while founders secretly diverted funds through internal wallets. The Department of Justice stated that more than 80% of investors lost money, and over half received nothing in return. Oblamska is the first of four founders indicted in 2023 to appear in a U.S. courtroom; the remaining co-defendants, all Russian nationals, remain at large. If convicted, Oblamska faces up to 20 years in prison.
In separate incidents, the privacy-focused decentralized finance protocol Verus is investigating an exploit targeting its Ethereum bridge that drained roughly $11.6 million in crypto assets. Security firms Blockaid, PeckShield, and GoPlus reported that the attacker stole more than 103 tBTC, 1,625 ETH, and 147,000 USDC before converting the assets into about 5,400 ETH. Researchers suspect the exploit may involve forged cross-chain messages, bypassed withdrawal checks, or flaws in access controls. PeckShield noted that the attacker's wallet was initially funded through Tornado Cash, a crypto mixer often used to obscure transactions. The Verus team halted much of the network after block-producing nodes shut down to contain the fallout, and developers are still investigating the attack and evaluating recovery steps.
Cross-chain crypto protocol ThorChain paused trading after security researchers ZackXBT and PeckShield identified an attack affecting Bitcoin, Ethereum, BNB Smart Chain, and Base networks. The exploit is estimated to have caused more than $10 million in losses. ThorChain stated that hackers compromised one of its Asgard vaults, resulting in the loss of about $10.7 million in protocol-owned funds, but early findings suggest user swapped funds were not impacted. Following the disclosure, the protocol's RUNE token fell as much as 11%. This incident adds to ThorChain's growing list of security and operational challenges, including the halting of its ThorFi lending platform in 2025 over insolvency concerns and scrutiny for its repeated use in laundering funds from crypto hacks.
Blockchain investigator ZachXBT has accused insiders behind the LAB AI trading token of controlling more than 95% of its supply and orchestrating a market-driven price surge to a $6 billion valuation. ZachXBT alleged that LAB's founders and associated market makers manipulated supply, token unlocks, and over-the-counter sales while leaving retail investors with little visibility into the token's actual circulation. The report claims LAB insiders moved hundreds of millions of tokens through exchanges including Bitget, Binance, and Gate.io, and that founders altered investor lockup terms without consent. ZachXBT urged exchanges to freeze insider profits or delist the token, warning that concentrated insider ownership could continue driving volatile price swings.
In other news, an Ohio resident, Rathnakishore Giri, received nine years in prison for running a fraudulent investment scheme that collected at least $10 million from investors. Giri pleaded guilty in 2024 to wire fraud charges tied to a cryptocurrency derivatives operation that prosecutors described as a Ponzi scheme. Federal prosecutors said that Giri falsely promised investors high returns while guaranteeing their principal investments were safe, using money from new investors to pay earlier ones. Additionally, hackers drained over $800,000 from Echo Protocol, and crypto ATM scams cost Americans $388 million in 2025, according to recent reports.