‘White hat’ hackers take $47 million bounty after $320 million crypto theft
Hackers withdrew $320 million in bitcoin from Liquid Network, negotiated on-chain, returned $266.5 million and kept a $47 million reward.
Purported white-hat hackers withdrew 4,000 BTC (about $320 million) from Liquid Network's own wallet, one of the largest cryptocurrency thefts of 2026. Over roughly 12 hours of public on-chain negotiation with operator Blockstream, the hackers returned $266.5 million in bitcoin and kept 598.5 BTC (about $47 million), claiming it as a reward for uncovering a bug. Blockstream deployed updated software and paused deposits and withdrawals while experts traced the flaw to the Elements sidechain framework. April thefts of $290 million from Kelp and $280 million from Drift, attributed to North Korean hackers, were previously 2026's largest.
- Attackers withdrew 4,000 BTC (about $320 million) from Liquid Network's wallet on Sunday.
- After ~12 hours of public blockchain negotiation, hackers returned $266.5 million and kept about $47 million.
- Blockstream deployed updated software; security experts trace the bug to the Elements sidechain framework.
- Theft follows April's $290 million Kelp and $280 million Drift thefts attributed to North Korean hackers.
From the original article
2 min read at therecord.mediaPublic negotiations between hackers and the operators of the Liquid Network crypto platform ended with the attackers sending back most — but not all — of what they took.
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