Blockstream's Liquid Network Hit in $340 Million Heist
AI-generated image · Bay Street Wire
A hacker exploited a bug to drain thousands of bitcoins from a settlement exchange, returning the majority of the funds only after the vulnerability was patched.
Liquid Network, a settlement exchange launched in 2018 by the crypto firm Blockstream, has fallen victim to one of the largest cryptocurrency thefts of the year, as TechCrunch first reported. According to the outlet, an unidentified hacker exploited a bug to withdraw thousands of bitcoins, totaling approximately $340 million.
In a post on X, Liquid Network characterized the perpetrator as a “white hat” hacker. The individual reportedly conditioned the return of the stolen assets on Blockstream fixing the exploited bug.
Former Blockstream executive Samson Mow confirmed via X on Monday that the company has since patched the vulnerability. Following the fix, the hacker returned roughly 3,400 of the approximately 4,000 bitcoins taken. However, the hacker still maintains control over the remaining 600 bitcoins, valued at about $47 million.
As a result of the breach, Liquid Network has paused its operations. Mow stated that the network will remain offline until the company implements further security improvements and additional fixes. The scale of the theft has been noted by the Rekt leaderboard, which tracks major cryptocurrency heists, ranking this incident as one of the largest thefts of digital funds to date.