Andean Medjedovic: 22-Year-Old Hacker Steals $65M from DeFi

Recently, one of the most notorious hackers in the crypto world has been revealed: Andean Medjedovic – the person behind the attacks on two major DeFi platforms, Indexed Finance and KyberSwap. According to documents released by the U.S. Department of Justice on February 3, 2025, Medjedovic, now 22 years old, stole a total of $65 million, including $16.5 million from Indexed Finance and $48.8 million from KyberSwap.

Medjedovic is no novice in the crypto space. After committing the crimes, he had a detailed plan to hide and legalize the stolen funds, proving himself to be a professional hacker.

1. Medjedovic: A Natural Talent with a Dark Path

Born in Canada, Medjedovic showed his mathematical talent early on, completing his high school education at the age of 14. He then pursued a degree in mathematics at the University of Waterloo – a prestigious school that also educated Vitalik Buterin, co-founder of Ethereum. Medjedovic graduated with a bachelor's degree at 17 and immediately began a master's program, impressing professors with his rapid learning abilities.

During his studies, Medjedovic developed programming skills and participated in security competitions like Code4rena, winning awards for discovering vulnerabilities in DeFi systems. He was particularly interested in Automated Market Makers (AMM), thoroughly researching new DeFi products and investing in them when he identified an opportunity.

However, Medjedovic had a difficult personality. He was described as arrogant, often dismissing people who could not keep up with him, and even held extreme views such as eugenics and racism. These beliefs were clearly reflected in his code during his hacking activities.

2. From Academic Talent to DeFi Attacks

Medjedovic's first major attack occurred in October 2021, when he exploited a vulnerability in the Indexed Finance project, a DeFi platform that operates similarly to an ETF on the blockchain. Medjedovic identified a mispricing opportunity and manipulated two liquidity pools on Ethereum to steal $16.5 million.

What’s noteworthy is that Medjedovic didn’t hide his identity after the attack. He even publicly stated that his actions were legal, citing the "code is law" philosophy within the crypto community. However, this claim was quickly dismissed, and Canadian authorities froze his assets.

Despite being wanted, Medjedovic continued engaging in criminal activities, with the next major attack being on KyberSwap.

3. KyberSwap Hack: Demanding Control of the Protocol

KyberSwap, a DeFi protocol developed by Vietnamese creators, became Medjedovic’s next target in November 2023. He borrowed millions of dollars and performed complex transactions to create artificial price fluctuations in the liquidity pools, stealing $48.8 million from 77 liquidity pools across six different blockchains.

After KyberSwap offered a 10% reward for the stolen funds, Medjedovic demanded to return 50% of the money in exchange for full control of the KyberSwap protocol and the KyberSwap DAO. This led many to believe that his motives were not just financial, but also aimed at controlling major DeFi projects.

Medjedovic is currently wanted for multiple serious charges, including online fraud, computer system hacking, and attempted extortion. He is also accused of money laundering through crypto mixing services.

U.S. authorities, including the FBI, have made it clear that despite Medjedovic’s belief that he is untouchable, all cybercriminals, including him, will eventually face justice.