According to reports, it has been three months since the Shibarium Bridge hack that drained more than $3 million from users, yet the case has not moved into formal law enforcement channels.
On-chain investigators traced a clear path of funds, and community members say the clues are strong enough to support an official probe. Still, exchanges are holding back unless a police case number is presented.
On-Chain Trail Revealed
Based on reports from on-chain sleuths, the attacker moved 260 Ether through Tornado Cash before routing 232.49 ETH to deposit addresses at KuCoin. The laundering path involved 111 wallets and 45 unique KuCoin deposits, according to a public breakdown by a community investigator known as Shima.
Shibarium Bridge hacker foolishly chose not to accept the K9 bounty – it’s finally time to share the investigation we’ve been working on…
this is juicy
The hacker made one stupid mistake and it completely unravelled their Tornado Cash laundering.
That one mistake… pic.twitter.com/itxsXbbGSm
— Shima 島。 (@MRShimamoto) December 1, 2025
A small mistake — a single transfer of 0.0874 ETH — linked otherwise hidden wallets and allowed the investigator to map much of the operation. The tracing work was shared with the Shiba Inu ecosystem team so it could be used to press for recovery.
Why didn’t https://t.co/OoTvg1kraL call the police?
Why isn’t there a report to the appropriate authorities to get a case number?
Why have no law enforcement been involved in the https://t.co/OoTvg1kraL bridge hack? https://t.co/88Gdxi0rhh
— Pulse Digital
(@CryptoPulse9) December 1, 2025
Practical Roadblocks To Recovery
Tracing crypto through mixers remains difficult, even when the ledger gives clues. Exchanges often need subpoena power, legal requests or a case number to share account details.
That requirement can leave strong on-chain leads stuck if a project does not file a police report. Community investigators can point the way, but many of the next steps depend on formal legal action and cross-border cooperation.
Exchange Action Hinges On Case NumberAfter Shima handed the findings to the project team, members of the community and teams such as K9 Finance stepped in. One representative, using the handle DeFi Turtle, reached out to KuCoin to ask that the exchange freeze the suspected funds.
KuCoin replied that it would require a formal law enforcement case number before taking such action, based on the messages that have circulated in community channels. Without a police report, the exchange said it could not legally provide internal records or lock the linked accounts.
Sleuth Offers Evidence To VictimsFaced with slow institutional movement, Shima has offered the full dataset, the mapping work and the methodology to victims and to any law enforcement body willing to act. Victims in different countries may need to lodge complaints locally to create the case numbers that exchanges demand.
Calls For Formal ComplaintsShane Cook, founder of Pulse Digital Marketing, questioned why the Shiba Inu team had not filed an official complaint despite the on-chain evidence. Reports show the team previously confirmed the breach and said it had contacted security firms including PeckShield and Hexens.
Cook’s criticism centers on the idea that technical analysis alone may not be enough; a legal filing is often required to make exchanges cooperate. The community now wonders whether the project prioritized reopening the bridge and repayment planning over pursuing legal routes.
Featured image from Hacked.com, chart from TradingView
