A hacker stole $340M in a crypto heist, then returned most of it

The Heist

The latest heist is one of the largest thefts of cryptocurrency to date. A hacker stole thousands of bitcoins worth about $340 million in a heist at a settlement exchange used by several cryptocurrency exchanges, representing one of the largest known thefts of crypto this year. Liquid Network, launched in 2018 by crypto firm Blockstream, said in a post on X on Sunday that a “white hat” hacker stole the funds from the network’s wallet, and that it has paused operations until the incident is resolved.

The Bug and Return

It’s not yet known who the hacker is, but crypto media reports that the hacker allegedly exploited a bug to withdraw the funds. The hacker said they would return the funds if Blockstream fixed the bug. Former Blockstream executive Samson Mow said in a post on X on Monday that the company had fixed the bug, and around 3,400 of the roughly 4,000 stolen bitcoins had been returned.

Remaining Funds and Ranking

The remaining about 600 bitcoins (about $47 million) were still under the hacker’s control. Mow said operations will remain paused until the following are made prior to restarting:

• additional fixes
• security improvements

The theft ranks as one of the largest heists of digital funds to date, according to the Rekt leaderboard, which tracks cryptocurrency thefts.