NEAR Protocol Climbs 7.8 Percent After Full Return of Stolen Funds

The attacker who exploited the NEAR Intents cross-chain service on October 1, 2026, has returned the full $3.8 million they had stolen. This move coincided with a significant price surge for NEAR Protocol, which rose by 7.8 percent to $5.23 on October 6, 2026, making it one of the top-performing crypto assets that day.

The incident affected the Omni infrastructure within NEAR Intents, a service for swapping crypto assets across different networks. The flaw was not in the NEAR blockchain itself but in the settlement layer handling deposits and withdrawals. The attacker was identified within 24 hours, and a 48-hour ultimatum was issued for the return of the funds, which was successfully met.

In addition to the returned funds, the launch of the first US spot ETF on NEAR, the Bitwise NRR ETF, on September 29, 2026, contributed to the price increase. The ETF saw $35.5 million in inflows on its first day, further boosting demand for NEAR. The combination of these events has alleviated the risk that had been weighing on the token, leading to a positive market reaction.

For investors, the incident highlights the importance of custody. Funds held in personal wallets were unaffected, while those in settlement services like Omni were at risk. The NEAR team has pledged to compensate affected users in full and encouraged security researchers to use bug bounties rather than exploit vulnerabilities.