Liquid Hackers Return $270M After White-Hat Negotiations
A security incident on Sunday saw hackers withdraw approximately $320 million from Liquid's reserves. The affected bridge nodes had been patched, and Blockstream confirmed the updated software had been deployed. On Monday, it was reported that 'white-hat' hackers returned around 3,400 BTC, worth about $270 million, to the Liquid Federation wallet.
The return of funds followed onchain negotiations with the actors, who identified themselves as white hats. They agreed to return most of the stolen Bitcoin once the vulnerability was fixed and every node had installed the patch. The outstanding 598 BTC remains under their control, with some questioning whether this arrangement constitutes extortion rather than genuine hacking.
Blockstream continues to engage with the actors, while Liquid remains paused as members make further fixes and security improvements. Users are advised not to send Bitcoin to Liquid peg-in addresses until the network's restart is confirmed.