Israel Extradites Nomad Suspect After Supreme Court Rejected His Code-Bug Defense

Dextape brief

By Dextape Desk · October 30, 2026

Israel has transferred Alexander Block, formerly known as Alexander Gurevich, to U.S. authorities, the State Attorney's Office said. U.S. prosecutors allege he took advantage of a weakness in the Nomad crypto bridge during August 2022, obtaining over $2.8 million in tokens. Israel's Supreme Court upheld his extradition in March 2026. Block was arrested in May 2025 at Ben-Gurion Airport as he was about to fly to Russia. An eight-count indictment in Northern California includes three money laundering counts, four computer fraud counts and one transporting stolen property count. Block's lawyers argued he only used the contracts as written, but the court rejected that, and he has not been convicted. No U.S. court date had been made public as of Friday.

Why it matters: The case shows Israeli courts treating exploitation of a smart contract flaw as criminal, a question many DeFi hacks raise for law enforcement.

Summary by Dextape, based on reporting by Unchained. Written with AI from the publisher’s text and checked automatically for copied wording and unsupported figures. Not investment advice.