Israel extradited Israeli-Russian citizen Alexander Block to the U.S. on October 29, 2026, to face federal fraud and money laundering charges over an alleged $2.8 million exploit of crypto bridge Nomad in August 2022. Block's initial breach exposed a smart-contract flaw that triggered a wider $186 million drain. Israel's Supreme Court rejected Block's appeal, ruling that exploiting programming bugs constitutes illegal computer intrusion regardless of automated code permissions.
Block's arrest and extradition from Israel
- ▪Israel extradited Israeli-Russian citizen Alexander Block to the United States to face federal charges related to an alleged $2.8 million crypto theft from Nomad
- ▪Israeli police arrested Alexander Block at Ben Gurion Airport in May 2025 as he prepared to board a flight to Russia, shortly after he changed his surname from Gurevich and obtained a new passport
- ▪The Jerusalem District Court approved the extradition of Alexander Block to the United States in July 2025
U.S. charges and extradition request
- ▪Alexander Block's August 2023 U.S. federal indictment specifically charges him with four counts of computer fraud, one count of transporting stolen property, and three counts of money laundering
- ▪A federal grand jury in the Northern District of California indicted Alexander Block in August 2023 on eight counts, including computer fraud, transporting stolen property, and money laundering
- ▪The United States formally requested the extradition of Alexander Block from Israel in December 2024 following his federal indictment in California
Israeli Supreme Court rulings on Block
- ▪Israel's Supreme Court held that publicly visible blockchain transactions do not reveal wallet ownership or rule out money laundering attempts to conceal fund sources
- ▪Israel's Supreme Court rejected Alexander Block's appeal, ruling that exploiting a software flaw constitutes unlawful computer intrusion even when automated smart contracts technically permit the transaction
- ▪Israeli Supreme Court President Isaac Amit rejected Alexander Block's request for a further hearing, exhausting Block's legal appeals in Israel
Alexander Block's Nomad exploit
- ▪Days after the August 2022 exploit, Alexander Block returned some tokens and contacted a senior Nomad official on Telegram offering to return the rest for a fee before cutting off contact
- ▪Alexander Block allegedly moved tokens worth more than $2.8 million stolen from Nomad through multiple crypto wallets and converted them into other cryptocurrencies to conceal their origin
- ▪Operating under the username Bitlik around August 1, 2022, Alexander Block allegedly made six test transfers before completing four main transfers to steal over $2.8 million in crypto tokens from Nomad
Wider fallout of the Nomad hack
- ▪Prosecutors allege that Alexander Block's initial August 2022 exploit exposed Nomad's software flaw to other users, leading to a wider drain of Nomad's funds that emptied over $186 million from a Nomad-controlled wallet
- ▪In December 2025, the Federal Trade Commission proposed a settlement requiring Illusory Systems, Nomad's operator, to return recovered funds to unreimbursed users following the $186 million Nomad breach in August 2022
- ▪Nomad recovered approximately $22 million in crypto assets in the days immediately following Alexander Block's August 2022 Nomad exploit
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