NEAR Intents blocks $50m in transfers tied to Bitget hack
The cross-chain protocol says its SHIELD system stopped more than $50 million in attempted transfers linked to the $387.5 million Bitget exploit, as THORChain resists calls to block attacker addresses.
Key points
- NEAR Intents blocked more than $50 million in attempted transfers tied to the Bitget hack, according to general manager Alex Shevchenko.
- Attackers stole $387.5 million from Bitget on Thursday, with much of the money moved across chains to Ethereum.
- NEAR Intents froze $503,000 during execution, while about $166,000 in suspected stolen funds passed through.
- Circle and Tether blacklisted a wallet linked to the exploiter on Friday, freezing $318,013 of USDT and USDC.
- NEAR Intents will give up Bitget's 5% bounty for freezing funds and a further 5% for recovery.
NEAR Intents says it blocked more than $50 million in attempted transfers tied to the Bitget hack, according to CoinTelegraph. The cross-chain protocol said its SHIELD system detected the transfers and stopped them, after attackers stole $387.5 million from the exchange on Thursday.
Alex Shevchenko, general manager of NEAR Intents, said a significant portion of the stolen funds moved across chains to Ethereum. He said the protocol blocked more than $50 million in attempted transfers, which then went to other providers. NEAR Intents froze $503,000 during execution, while around $166,000 in suspected stolen funds passed through.
The disclosure came as THORChain faced calls to block addresses linked to the attack. Bitget CEO Gracy Chen asked the decentralised swapping protocol on Friday to refuse services to addresses tied to the exploit. THORChain responded that it does not censor by design, saying that while it has halted the network before, that is an emergency security mechanism affecting the protocol broadly and not a selective freeze of specific funds or a single swap.
Protocol blocks stolen transfers
Shevchenko argued that permissionless systems do not have to be neutral. He said the people who build such systems make choices about what they enable, and that refusing to help launder stolen assets is one of those choices. He added that property rights are fundamental to functioning markets, and that a system where stealing an asset gives an unrestricted right to monetise it protects the thief rather than being freer.
NEAR Intents said it will forego the 5% bounty Bitget offered for freezing attacker funds, plus an additional 5% for their recovery, so that more money can be returned to the exchange. Shevchenko said the frozen funds would be returned through an appropriate legal process. He said crypto cannot demand recognition of digital property rights while building infrastructure optimised for monetising stolen property.
The episode highlights a tension for permissionless crypto protocols, which offer open access while trying to curb illicit activity. It follows action by stablecoin issuers: Circle and Tether blacklisted a wallet linked to the Bitget exploiter on Friday, freezing $318,013 of USDT and USDC, according to onchain data.
THORChain resists calls
Bitget has said the $388 million hack exploited a third-party security vulnerability. The dispute over whether cross-chain protocols should block specific addresses is likely to continue as stolen funds move between networks.