A Russian-Israeli dual national suspected of stealing millions in the 2022 Nomad bridge hack is set to be extradited to the United States, following his arrest at Israel’s Ben-Gurion Airport last week.
Alexander Gurevich, now reportedly using the name Alexander Block, was detained on May 1 while attempting to board a flight to Russia. According to The Jerusalem Post, he had just received a passport under his new identity days earlier after returning from a trip abroad.
Gurevich is accused by US federal prosecutors of exploiting a vulnerability in the Nomad crypto bridge in August 2022, draining $2.89 million in tokens. The breach triggered a cascade of copycat attacks that ultimately cost the protocol over $190 million.
The exploit was so simple, almost anyone with a basic understanding of crypto transactions could join in. Once the flaw was discovered, hundreds piled on, copying and pasting code to redirect funds straight into their own wallets.
It all started with a routine update gone horribly wrong. Nomad, which lets users move assets between blockchains like Ethereum and Moonbeam, accidentally introduced a bug that let anyone approve transactions without proper verification.
That meant if someone found a valid transaction, they could copy it, change the destination address, and the contract would still process it with no questions asked. Essentially, the bridge became an open vault.
Nomad later admitted that a single line of faulty code had turned the entire bridge into a “copy-paste exploit zone.”
Authorities claim Gurevich laundered millions in stolen assets and committed multiple computer crimes. He allegedly messaged Nomad CTO James Prestwich on Telegram after the hack using a false identity, offered a partial return of funds, and even requested a $500,000 bounty for revealing the flaw—before disappearing from contact.
US prosecutors in California, where Nomad is based, secured an eight-count indictment against Gurevich in August 2023. A formal extradition request was submitted in December 2024.
The suspect reportedly arrived in Israel just before the Nomad hack took place, leading officials to believe the attack may have been coordinated from within the country.
If extradited and convicted, Gurevich faces up to 20 years in prison on money laundering charges alone.
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