NEAR Intents Blocks Hackers' Funds, Prevents $50M in Stolen Crypto

Crypto exchange Bitget was hacked on September 24, resulting in a loss of $387.5 million. The attackers moved funds through multiple blockchains before converging on Ethereum (ETH). Cross-chain protocol NEAR Intents intervened, blocking more than $50 million in attempted transfers using its SHIELD system.

The protocol's general manager, Alex Shevchenko, said the system typically processes over $100 million in trading volume each day. NEAR Intents also froze $503,000 during execution and stopped about $166,000 before it could be laundered.

Bitget CEO Gracy Chen thanked NEAR Intents for its intervention, stating that 'permissionlessness but not facilitating known stolen funds' is what the response should look like. The company chose to waive a 10% bounty offered by Bitget and is holding the intercepted funds in custody while pursuing a legal recovery process.