Dritan Kapllani Jr.
Summary
Dritan Kapllani Jr. is an 18-year-old US-based individual publicly identified by blockchain investigator ZachXBT on May 12, 2026, as allegedly responsible for approximately $19 million in cryptocurrency thefts conducted through social engineering attacks between August 2025 and March 2026. He is named as Co-Conspirator 1 (CC-1) in US federal criminal case 1:26-cr-20181 (Southern District of Florida), unsealed May 11, 2026, in connection with a March 14, 2026 theft of 185 BTC valued at approximately $13 million. As of May 2026, Kapllani has not been formally charged; named defendants Trenton Richard David Johnston and Brandon Michael Tardibone have been indicted and detained.
Timeline(14 events)
2025-08-01
Alleged social engineering theft traced to Kapllani-linked Ethereum address 0xea9fccb3ea820f080f38e9c49fc1a201066010c7 (approximate date; first of a series of five alleged thefts totaling over $5.85M across August-October 2025)
ZachXBT via CryptoTimes2025-09-01
Alleged social engineering theft traced to Bitcoin address bc1qky6zk8fkuwg5a7nr9923ts4k3ftjj2nmvrknnx linked to Kapllani (approximate date; part of 2025 theft cluster)
ZachXBT via MEXC News2025-10-01
Three additional alleged social engineering thefts traced to Bitcoin addresses linked to Kapllani, bringing 2025 total to over $5.85M (approximate dates in October 2025)
ZachXBT via MEXC News2026-01-01
ZachXBT investigates John Daghita ("Lick") in connection with an alleged $46 million theft of US government-seized cryptocurrency. Daghita, who had participated in a band-4-band call with Kapllani, posts Kapllani's older wallet address (0x97da...) in a since-deleted Telegram message in apparent retaliation, providing ZachXBT with a lead
BleepingComputer2026-03-14
185 BTC (approximately $13 million) stolen from a victim through social engineering; Trenton Johnston and Kapllani (CC-1) allegedly communicate on this date celebrating the theft and planning further attacks; funds are split and mixed almost immediately
CryptoTimes / PACER Monitor2026-03-15
Approximately $5.3 million transferred to Ethereum wallet 0x4487db847db2fc99372a985743a26f46e0b2bba6 attributed to Kapllani; wallet balance peaks at $5,383,534.01
ZachXBT via CryptoTimes2026-04-21
Federal case 1:26-cr-20181 (USA v. Johnston et al) initially sealed in the Southern District of Florida
PACER Monitor2026-04-23
Kapllani allegedly participates in a Discord band-4-band call, screen-sharing an Exodus wallet displaying $3.68-4.17 million in cryptocurrency; Brandon Tardibone (@yelotree) had allegedly received approximately $1.6 million in stolen funds by this date
CryptoTimes / Our Crypto Talk2026-04-24
Federal case unsealed; Trenton Johnston and Brandon Tardibone make initial appearances; temporary detention ordered for Johnston pending a hearing
PACER Monitor2026-04-29
Pretrial detention hearing held for Johnston; defense stipulates to pretrial detention with rights to revisit
PACER Monitor2026-05-11
DOJ publicly announces indictment of Trenton Richard David Johnston and Brandon Michael Tardibone in connection with the $13 million crypto fraud scheme; criminal complaint naming Kapllani as Co-Conspirator 1 becomes publicly accessible
MEXC News / GNCrypto / Hoodline2026-05-12
ZachXBT publishes eight-part investigation on X publicly identifying Dritan Kapllani Jr. and linking him to approximately $19 million in alleged social engineering cryptocurrency thefts spanning August 2025 through March 2026
CryptoTimes / CCN / Yahoo News2026-05-15
ZachXBT reports via Telegram that Kapllani moved approximately $2.59 million (1.99M DAI and 259 ETH) through three wallet hops to a newly created wallet following public exposure; Kapllani remains uncharged as of this date
CryptoRank / MEXC NewsDecision Log
- hash: FBCBrhY7Pxws8xMcMF8fYJaXFwKYAw2dJpakX1qzqP4K
This investigation is cryptographically anchored to the Solana blockchain and source URLs are archived via the Internet Archive.
model: claude-code-investigator
generated: 5/22/2026, 3:52:25 PM
last updated: 5/22/2026, 4:15:20 PM
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