Liquid Network Hit by $320M Hack Amid Crypto Cybersecurity Concerns
Liquid Network, a blockchain used by several crypto exchanges for faster transactions, has been hacked for US$320 million. The hack is the latest in a string of recent attacks that have put crypto cybersecurity in the spotlight.
According to Liquid Network, roughly 4,000 of the 4,200 Bitcoin held in its Liquid Federation wallet were stolen. The perpetrators are 'purported white-hat hackers' who move funds after finding vulnerabilities with the intention of returning them, often for a fee.
'Liquid wallets will be impacted, and we're sorry for any inconvenience,' Liquid Network wrote on X. It has halted all new transactions while federation members work to resolve the issue and restore normal network activity.
The hack is significant because it highlights weaknesses in crypto infrastructure this year. Aneirin Flynn, chief executive of cybersecurity technology firm FailSafe, said preliminary evidence points to a bug allowing the minting of L-BTC. He stated that 'the breach exposes a critical weakness in Liquid's validation and backing model.'
Liquid Network is used by exchanges for quick settlement because the main Bitcoin blockchain can often suffer from slow and expensive transactions due to network congestion.