Near Protocol Blocks $50M in Stolen Funds, but Loses $3.8M in Own Security Breach

Near Protocol, a cryptocurrency platform, recently made headlines after blocking over $50 million in stolen funds from hackers who targeted the Bitget exchange. The hackers stole $387.5 million from Bitget on September 24 and attempted to swap the funds through Near Intents, the platform's cross-chain swap service. However, the SHIELD security system designed to protect the service blocked most of these attempts, but approximately $503,000 was frozen mid-swap.

The hackers then redirected their efforts, using tools like Zcash's privacy pool to obscure their trail. Two days later, on October 1, Near Intents faced its own internal security challenge, losing $3.8 million due to a bug in the smart contract that manages deposits and withdrawals on the cross-chain bridge.

The exploit was contained to Tether dollar tokens on the BNB Smart Chain, and the SHIELD system detected the suspicious activity, pausing operations across 11 networks. Near Intents committed to compensating affected users, and the Near blockchain and its main token remained secure.

The hacker returned the entire $3.8 million within less than a day. Despite the recent turmoil, Near holders are still ahead, with the platform's price increasing by 16% for the week, 211% over the past 60 days, and 160% over the last 90 days.