A hacker from the United States has been sentenced to three years in prison after being found guilty of stealing over $12 million worth of cryptocurrency from two decentralized exchanges (DEXs). The hacker, Shakeeb Ahmed, who worked as a security engineer, used false pricing data to create inflated fees on an unnamed DEX in July 2022. He then withdrew the fees in the form of cryptocurrency, but struck a deal with the exchange to return all the stolen funds, except for $1.5 million, in exchange for not reporting the attack to law enforcement.

Later that same month, Ahmed targeted another DEX called Nirvana Finance by exploiting the project’s smart contracts. He manipulated the prices of cryptocurrencies, purchasing them at a lower value and then immediately reselling them at a higher price to the DEX. As a result, he managed to steal $3.6 million worth of cryptocurrency, causing Nirvana Finance to shut down.

The hacker pleaded guilty to computer fraud and has been sentenced to three years in prison, as well as three years of supervised release. In addition, he has been ordered to forfeit approximately $12.3 million and a significant amount of cryptocurrency. Furthermore, he must pay $5 million in restitution to the two DEXs.

Damian Williams, the US Attorney for the Southern District of New York, stated that Ahmed’s conviction marks the first-ever conviction for hacking a smart contract. He emphasized that his office and law enforcement partners are committed to tracking the money and holding hackers accountable for their actions. Williams concluded that prison time and the forfeiture of stolen cryptocurrency are the inevitable consequences of such destructive hacks.

Please note that this article was generated by OpenAI and may not be entirely accurate or reflect the most current news events.