Israel has extradited an Israeli-Russian citizen to the United States to face charges tied to the alleged theft of about $2.8 million from crypto bridge Nomad. Israel’s State Attorney’s Office announced the move on Thursday, according to The Jerusalem Post.
The suspect, Alexander Block, was previously known as Alexander Gurevich. He was handed over to U.S. authorities early Thursday after his appeals in Israel failed. He had been arrested at Ben Gurion Airport in May 2025 while preparing to fly to Russia, shortly after changing his surname and obtaining a passport under the new name.
Charges and extradition timeline
According to Israel’s Supreme Court judgment, a federal grand jury in the Northern District of California indicted Block in August 2023 on four counts of computer fraud, one count of transporting stolen property, and three counts of money laundering. The United States submitted its extradition request in December 2024.
How the Nomad flaw was allegedly used
As described in the U.S. extradition request and cited in the judgment, a June 2022 software update left a flaw in Nomad’s smart contracts. The bug allowed users to receive tokens on one blockchain without locking equivalent assets on another chain.
U.S. authorities allege that Block, using the handle “Bitlik,” first carried out six test transfers. Around August 1, 2022, he then made four main transfers and received tokens worth more than $2.8 million. Prosecutors say he later moved the tokens through several wallets and converted them into other cryptocurrencies to hide their origin.
The extradition request also alleges that his actions exposed the flaw to other Nomad users, who then drained a Nomad-controlled wallet that held more than $186 million in user funds.
Partial return of tokens and contact with Nomad
A few days later, Block allegedly returned some of the tokens and contacted a senior Nomad official on Telegram. He offered to return the rest in exchange for payment for identifying the flaw. He later stopped responding, and Nomad went to U.S. law enforcement.
What Israeli courts said
The Jerusalem District Court approved Block’s extradition in July 2025. On appeal, he argued that the transactions relied on functions available within Nomad’s automated system. He also argued that the public nature of blockchain transfers undercut the money laundering allegations.
The Supreme Court rejected both arguments, The Jerusalem Post reported. It held that exploiting a programming flaw can amount to unlawful computer intrusion even if the software technically allowed the action. The court also said that publicly visible blockchain transactions do not necessarily reveal who controls a wallet and do not rule out efforts to conceal the source of funds.
According to the State Attorney’s Office, Supreme Court President Isaac Amit later denied Block’s request for a further hearing.
Broader fallout from the Nomad exploit
The August 2022 exploit drained nearly all funds from Nomad. Because copying the original attack required little technical knowledge, Paradigm researcher Sam Sun described what followed at the time as “a frenzied free-for-all,” as previously reported by Decrypt.
In December 2025, the Federal Trade Commission proposed a settlement with Illusory Systems, Nomad’s operator. The agency said the bridge lost $186 million after hackers exploited a poorly tested software update. Under the proposed settlement, the company would have to return recovered funds to users who had not been reimbursed. Nomad recovered about $22 million in the days following the hack.
