Hacker Danny Arrested in Dubai, $19M Seized

Key Highlights:

• British hacker Danny (linked to the Genesis hack) was reportedly arrested in Dubai.
• This hacker was responsible for not just the Genesis hack but the Kroll SIM swap attack as well.
• ZachXBT reported the arrest on his Telegram Channel today, December 5, 2025.

British cybercriminal Danny, also known as Meech or Danish Zalfiqar (Khan), has been reportedly arrested after police raided a villa in Dubai. Authorities have also seized more than $18.58 million worth of his crypto.

All of these details were revealed by well-known blockchain sleuth ZachXBT on his Telegram channel today, December 5, 2025. The blockchain sleuth was actually tracing Danny’s online activities and when the activities stopped, he concluded that an arrest or raid may have taken place.

Crypto Asset Seizure Linked to Known Law Enforcement Patterns

Before the arrest, ZachXBT saw something interesting. The blockchain sleuth observed that Danny’s crypto, which was spread across many wallets, was suddenly moved into one single wallet: 0xb37d617716e46511E56FE07b885fBdD70119f768.

This type of movement is a clear sign that the crypto has been seized by the law-enforcement team because it follows the same pattern seen in past cases where authorities freeze assets.

The wallet as of now holds $18.67 million and it seems like this amount is a part of the stolen funds that officials have locked as they work on shutting down Danny’s operations.

Connections to Major Crypto Crimes

Danny is not just a small-time hacker, his criminal history links him to various crypto hacks that have been recorded. In August 20024, he played a major role in stealing $243 million from Genesis creditors.

This was not a simple attack and was carried out with other well-known hackers such as Malone, Veer, Chen and Jeandiel. All of them used insider information and took advantage of security loopholes to quickly empty the accounts of major investors.

This is not it. Danny was also involved in the Kroll SIM swap attack in August 2023, where hackers took over phone numbers to access personal information of people who owed money by companies such as BlockFi, Genesis, and FTS.

With this data, scammers pretended to be real account holders, tricking victims through emails and phone calls. This led to more than $300 million being stolen from people who believed them to be representatives from the said companies.

This indicates that the individual has been a part of many cybercrimes, from draining crypto funds to stealing identities, which has cost investors hundreds of millions of dollars. His arrest is a big step toward shutting down a long-running network of crypto-focused fraud.

ZachXBT’s Investigative Role

Most of this information came from all the work of blockchain investigator ZachXBT, who spent months studying and tracking Danny’s crypto transactions and online behaviour.

By tracking wallet movements on the blockchain and gathering publicly available information, he observed some patterns that were pointing towards illegal activities, such as money laundering, pooling stolen funds together, and sudden transfers that usually happen right before the police authorities step in.

A few days before the Dubai raid, ZachXBT also observed something very different, people in Danny’s circle suddenly stopped all of their communication online. This silence matched with the timeline of the police operation reported later, which hints that the law enforcement had moved in and arrests might have been made.

This case shows how global law enforcement is getting stronger at fighting crypto crime, with Dubai now becoming a major hub for tracking and arresting high-value criminals. The seizure of almost $19 million sends a pretty clear warning to the hackers who misuse decentralized platforms.

This move is also pushing crypto companies to improve security, while making sure that the victims get a better chance at recovering the lost funds.

Also Read: WisdomTree Launches Europe’s First Fully Staked Ethereum ETP