Search: “L-BTC”

Liquid Hackers Return 3,400 Bitcoin Taken via Elements Bug, Still Holding $47M in BTC

Hackers exploited an Elements bug to take ~4,000 BTC from Liquid Network, returned 3,400 BTC (~$265M), and still hold ~598.5 BTC (~$47M).

Attackers exploited a bug in Elements, the software behind Blockstream's Liquid Network Bitcoin sidechain, to create L-BTC and withdraw roughly 4,000 BTC (about $320 million) via SideSwap's Peg-out Authorization Key, roughly 95% of Liquid's reported reserves. They returned 3,400 BTC (about $265 million at ~$78,000 per BTC) to the federation address on September 7, keeping about 598.5 BTC (roughly $47 million). The group called itself white hats, demanded node patches before returning funds, and negotiated via on-chain and PGP-encrypted messages; Ledger CTO Charles Guillemet characterized the arrangement as extortion. Blockstream says the peg-out key and other keys were not compromised, updated software is deployed, and the network remains paused pending a coordinated restart.

The Hacker News·Sep 8, 14:54 UTC · 8d agoExploit / PoC in the wild

Hackers Drain $320 Million From Liquid Network, Then Return Most of It

Hackers exploited an Elements bug to drain about 4,000 BTC (~$320M) from Liquid Network's federation wallet, then returned 3,400 BTC after Blockstream patched.

An attacker drained roughly 4,000 of 4,200 BTC (~$320M) from Bitcoin's Liquid Network federation wallet on September 6 by exploiting a bug in Elements, the open-source code powering the sidechain, which allowed unbacked L-BTC tokens that were redeemed for real Bitcoin through SideSwap's authorized peg-out mechanism. The self-described white-hat attackers negotiated publicly via OP_RETURN on-chain messages, demanding the bridge nodes be patched before returning 3,400 BTC (~$262.6M) and keeping about 598 BTC (~$47M). Blockstream confirmed the affected bridge nodes were patched; the network remains paused while federation members complete security work, and experts debate whether the act legally constitutes extortion.

Security Affairs·Sep 8, 20:35 UTC · 8d agoExploit / PoC in the wild

Hackers drain $320M in Bitcoin from Liquid Network, claim they're the good guys

Attackers withdrew about 4,000 BTC (~$320M) from Liquid Network's federation wallet via a SideSwap peg-out, claiming whitehat status.

Hackers drained roughly $320 million in Bitcoin — about 4,000 BTC, 95% of holdings — from the federation wallet backing Blockstream's Liquid Network sidechain. The withdrawal occurred through SideSwap using its Peg-out Authorization Key (PAK), yet no PAK appears to have been compromised, and the exact mechanism remains under investigation. The actors embedded an on-chain message identifying themselves as whitehats, asked Blockstream to patch federation nodes first, and promised to return most of the funds after fixes are confirmed. Liquid disabled its bridge nodes and asked exchanges to suspend L-BTC deposits and withdrawals; other Liquid assets and the Bitcoin network were unaffected.

The Register · Security·Sep 7, 13:26 UTC · 9d agoExploit / PoC in the wild

Eleethub: A Cryptocurrency Mining Botnet with Rootkit for Self

Unit 42 uncovered Eleethub, a Perl-based Bitcoin mining botnet using a crafted rootkit and libprocesshider to evade detection, still under development with few infections.

Unit 42 discovered an under-development Perl Shellbot campaign that mines Bitcoin using xmrig and emech while evading detection via a rootkit that replaces the ps tool and the LD_PRELOAD-based libprocesshider.so library. Infected devices download a malicious shell script, connect to IRC-based C2 at eleethub.com and the UnderNet network, and can receive commands for UDP/TCP floods, port scans, and HTTP attacks. The botnet can affect Unix systems and Windows 10 hosts running a Linux subsystem, and its operators use the 'Los Zetas' branding, though they are unlikely to be the Mexican drug cartel. Researchers found only a few compromised 'zombies' before the campaign expanded.

Palo Alto Unit 42·Aug 19, 12:05 UTC · 28d agoMalware in the wild

Hackers drain $320M in Bitcoin from Liquid Network, claim they’re the good guys

Hackers withdrew roughly 4,000 BTC (about $320M) from the Liquid Network federation wallet backing the Blockstream-developed Bitcoin sidechain, claiming benign intent.

Blockstream said Sunday that around 4,000 BTC, roughly $320 million, was withdrawn from the federation wallet backing Liquid Network, a Bitcoin sidechain used by exchanges and financial institutions. The attackers publicly claimed they were 'the good guys'; no attribution or recovery details are provided. The theft affects infrastructure that backs custodial Bitcoin transfers for exchanges.

DataBreaches.net·Sep 7, 16:37 UTC · 9d agoData breach in the wild

‘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.

The Record·Sep 8, 17:00 UTC · 8d agoData breach in the wild

Revolut Exposed KYC Data After Fraudulent Government Email Passed Security Checks

Revolut handed over KYC documents, selfies, and Bitcoin transaction histories to attackers after a fraudulent email from a genuine government domain passed authentication checks.

Revolut confirmed on September 12, 2026 that it disclosed sensitive customer KYC data to an unauthorized third party after a fraudulent information request was sent from an email account operating inside a real government agency's domain, carrying valid domain authentication credentials. The exposed data included identity documents (passports, driver's licenses), verification selfies, birth dates, contact details, IBANs, account statements, and full transaction histories including Bitcoin. Revolut discovered the fraud only after independently verifying with the agency, blocked the sender, and notified law enforcement and financial regulators, but did not disclose the number of affected customers or the agency involved. Researcher ZachXBT assessed the operation was targeted at high-net-worth users, useful for fraud, impersonation, or extortion.

Security Affairs·Sep 12, 21:05 UTC · 4d agoData breach

You've Got a BUD in Me: Authenticated Reads from Per-Block Write Logs

Researchers propose BUD, per-block write-log digests enabling blockchain validators to serve historical membership and exclusion proofs far cheaper than state-wide tries.

The paper introduces Block Update Digests (BUD), which authenticate each block's write log with predecessor pointers, plus a SuperBUD and exponential hierarchy to turn long unchanged intervals into short proofs. Soundness against adversarial provers and up to f Byzantine validators is proven under archive, attestation, and committee evidence assumptions. Benchmarks show a 50x state-size increase raises the base-BUD path only 1.24x versus 3.1x for in-memory and 69.5x for disk-backed Merkle Patricia tries, with read payloads below 800 bytes and p99 warm verification at 146 microseconds.

arXiv cs.CR·Sep 10, 08:46 UTC · 6d agoResearch

Fake IRS letters direct crypto holders to bogus compliance portal

Help Net Security·Aug 4, 00:00 UTC · Aug 4, 2026Phishing & fraud

Risky Bulletin: BEC campaign steals €35 million from French notaries

Hackers stole over €35 million from 500+ French notary offices in a four-year BEC campaign; ANSSI spent two years helping evict the attackers.

A business email compromise campaign breached more than 500 French notary offices — about 7% of all French notaries per the Conseil Supérieur du Notariat — over four years, stealing more than €35 million by phishing initial access and silently modifying wire transfer details. France's cybersecurity agency ANSSI worked for two years behind the scenes to help notaries remove the persistent attackers, who had deep access; officials also feared hackers could issue fake notarized acts such as marriage certificates or forged real estate deals. No forged documents have been found so far, but notaries have added two-factor authentication and in-person requirements for banking details, and banks added extra checks in 2024. The newsletter also notes other incidents, including a $320 million Bitcoin extraction from Blockstream's Liquid Network and a JetBrains Cadence breach via TeamCity servers.

Risky Business News·Sep 7, 03:42 UTC · 9d agoPhishing & fraud in the wild1

Operation ASTERIX: Anatomy of a Crypto Fraud Pipeline

Rapid7 exposed infrastructure behind a cryptocurrency fraud pipeline using phishing panels, voice-dialing scripts, fake wallets, and AI coding assistants.

Rapid7 researchers identified an exposed web directory on infrastructure used to support a cryptocurrency fraud operation tracked as Operation ASTERIX. The server contained raw phone-number datasets, account-validation tools, enriched lead records, phishing panels, voice-dialing scripts, fake wallet applications, persistence mechanisms, and Telegram exfiltration code. Recovered prompts, shell history, and project files show the operator relied on AI coding assistants to package Electron applications, obfuscate code, troubleshoot builds, and modify phishing infrastructure.

Rapid7 Blog·Aug 17, 11:29 UTC · Aug 17, 2026Phishing & fraud

Hackers demand 10,000 Bitcoin from Revolut following data breach

Revolut breach via spoofed government-agency email requests; attackers posted stolen data samples on Telegram and demand 10,000 Bitcoin.

Revolut disclosed that an unauthorized third party obtained sensitive customer information by sending fraudulent requests from the email domain of a legitimate government agency. People claiming responsibility have posted samples of the allegedly stolen data across several Telegram groups. The perpetrators are demanding 10,000 Bitcoin from Revolut.

DataBreaches.net·Sep 15, 11:49 UTC · 1d agoData breach

Ukrainian lawyer's second career as a Conti coder earns him 4 years behind bars

Ukrainian lawyer turned Conti malware coder sentenced to four years in US prison, ordered to forfeit $25,042 in Bitcoin.

Oleksii Oleksiyovych Lytvynenko, 44, a trained lawyer who joined Conti under the handle "henry", pleaded guilty in June to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and was sentenced to four years. He coded a malware loader, researched targets using Google and ZoomInfo, and possessed data stolen from eight US victims who reported over $1.5 million in losses. Investigators found Cobalt Strike running and a Rocket.Chat session over Tor on his laptop when Gardaí arrested him in County Cork, Ireland in July 2023; he was extradited to the US in October 2025. Conti attacked over 1,000 victims across 47 US states and 31 countries, with payouts exceeding $150 million by January 2022.

The Register · Security·updated Sep 11, 16:07 UTC · 5d ago·first Sep 11, 12:15 UTC · 5d agoPolicy & legal 7 sources

Hackers have withdrawn ~4k BTC (~$320M) from the Liquid Federation wallet

Hackers reportedly withdrew about 4,000 BTC (~$320 million) from the Liquid Federation wallet, according to a widely shared report on X.

A post on X reports that hackers withdrew roughly 4,000 BTC — valued near $320 million — from the Liquid Federation wallet. The source text provides no details on the compromise method, attribution, custody impact, or any organizational response. The story drew heavy attention on Hacker News (125 points, 86 comments), indicating broad community concern.

Hacker News · security·Sep 6, 22:43 UTC · 10d agoData breach in the wildHN 125↑ · 86 comments

Hackers Return $263 Million Stolen From Liquid Network

Hackers drain roughly 4,000 BTC (~$320M) from Liquid Network federation wallet, then return 3,400 BTC with ~598 BTC still outstanding.

Attackers withdrew about 4,000 Bitcoin (roughly $320 million) from the Liquid Network federation wallet, which held approximately 4,200 BTC, via the SideSwap Peg-out Authorization Key without that key being compromised. Blockstream disabled nodes and suspended transactions after disclosing the heist on Sunday. Alleged white-hat hackers returned 3,400 BTC (~$262.6M) on Monday, demanding the underlying bug be patched before releasing the remaining ~598 BTC (~$47M). The network remains paused while fixes and a safe restart are prepared.

SecurityWeek·Sep 8, 16:35 UTC · 8d agoData breach in the wild

Hackers Abuse Google Sheets as C2 in ClickFix Attacks to Steal Cryptocurrency

Cisco Talos tracks a ClickFix crypto-theft campaign using Google Sheets as C2 to swap deposit addresses in Chrome.

Cisco Talos uncovered a cryptocurrency theft campaign that abuses Google Sheets and the Google Visualization API as a covert C2 channel, delivering obfuscated JavaScript into victims' Chrome browser sessions via ClickFix-style social engineering. Victims are lured with a fake "API Logic Flaw" report promising 25-38% bonuses on SimpleSwap and SwapZone swaps; the injected payload acts as a browser-based web skimmer that replaces deposit addresses, overrides the fetch API, and hijacks the clipboard. Later variants use the legitimate Tampermonkey extension with a user script for persistence without OS-level compromise. Talos identified 49 Bitcoin wallets, with 24 reused addresses receiving about 0.159 BTC (~$10,000) before mixing through more than 3,000 addresses.

GBHackers·Sep 9, 06:22 UTC · 7d agoPhishing & fraud in the wild

Party’s Over for Crypto Scammers Who Went on a Spending Spree After a $240 Million Bitcoin Theft

Malone Lam's plea hearing approaches in the $240 million bitcoin social engineering theft; the case highlights surging crypto fraud and limited enforcement.

Malone Lam, accused of organizing a social engineering attack that stole over $240 million in bitcoin (4,100+ BTC) from a Washington, D.C. resident in August 2024, has a plea agreement hearing set. Callers impersonating Google and Gemini staff tricked the victim into revealing security codes. Lam and 17 co-defendants spent lavishly before FBI arrests; crypto investment fraud complaints to the FBI rose nearly 50% in 2025 while DOJ disbanded its crypto crimes unit.

SecurityWeek·Sep 8, 13:00 UTC · 8d agoPolicy & legal

A hacker stole $340M in a crypto heist, then returned most of it

A hacker exploited a bug to steal about 4,000 BTC (~$340M) from Blockstream's Liquid Network, then returned roughly 3,400 BTC after the bug was fixed.

A hacker exploited a bug to withdraw roughly 4,000 bitcoins worth about $340 million from Liquid Network, a settlement service launched in 2018 by crypto firm Blockstream and used by several cryptocurrency exchanges. Liquid Network paused operations, and the hacker, described as a white hat, offered to return the funds once the bug was fixed. Former Blockstream executive Samson Mow said the bug was fixed and about 3,400 BTC (~$293M) returned, leaving roughly 600 BTC (~$47M) under the hacker's control pending further security improvements. Rekt's leaderboard ranks the heist among the largest cryptocurrency thefts to date.

TechCrunch · Security·Sep 8, 14:11 UTC · 8d agoExploit / PoC in the wild

Function Name Is All You Need to Detect Blockchain Application Attacks

TxLucent detects blockchain dApp attacks from transaction function-name sequences using a transformer, achieving 1.56% false negatives without source code.

Researchers propose TxLucent, which maps transaction call traces to function name sequences and uses a transformer to detect blockchain application attacks without source code or handcrafted rules. Evaluated on 424 real-world incidents with 14,611 attack transactions, it achieves a 1.56% false negative rate and an estimated 0.0017% false positive rate across over 500 million Ethereum transactions. Average analysis time of 24.90 milliseconds supports real-time detection on popular blockchains.

arXiv cs.CR·Sep 11, 00:43 UTC · 5d agoResearch1

ClickFix Moves into the Browser to Steal Cryptocurrency

Cisco Talos details a ClickFix campaign injecting browser JavaScript via Google Sheets to skim crypto deposits, stealing at least ~0.159 BTC since October 2025

Cisco Talos reported a months-long ClickFix campaign that shifted from OS command execution to injecting JavaScript through Chrome's address bar or the Tampermonkey extension into sessions on two cryptocurrency trading sites. Since March 2026 the operators fetch obfuscated payloads via the Google Visualization API from public Google Sheets, replacing displayed deposit addresses and amounts and overriding the fetch API, and the campaign survived two disruption attempts. Talos observed 49 Bitcoin addresses with 24 receiving at least 0.159 BTC (~$10,000) by early August, with proceeds routed through roughly 30 wallets and more than 3,000 addresses in apparent mixing. Lures posed as leaked vulnerability reports describing non-existent API flaws at crypto swap services, promising payouts up to 38% higher.

Infosecurity Magazine·Sep 9, 13:45 UTC · 7d agoPhishing & fraud in the wild

JSCeal Hides Crypto Malware in V8 Bytecode

Check Point details JSCeal, a crypto-stealing malware delivered as compiled V8 bytecode, and built a decompiler pipeline to expose its capabilities.

JSCeal, tracked by Check Point Research since early 2025, is a cryptocurrency stealer delivered as heavily obfuscated JavaScript compiled to V8 bytecode (.jsc) and run by a bundled Node.js runtime. Check Point, presenting at Black Hat USA 2026, extended the open-source View8 decompiler into a pipeline that recovered readable code from 23 samples, revealing theft of browser credentials and cookies, Telegram sessions, keystrokes, screenshots, HTTPS traffic interception with attacker-controlled certificates, and automated Google account takeover. Targeted overrides rewrite content for Binance, Bybit, and Ledger users. Later samples added AES-256-CBC encryption with externally supplied keys and expanded targeting to macOS.

Security Affairs·Sep 7, 10:19 UTC · 9d agoMalware1

Breaking the Seal: Static Deobfuscation of JSCeal’s Compiled V8 Bytecode

Check Point's hasherezade details static deobfuscation of JSCeal, a V8-bytecode stealer targeting cryptocurrency applications since March 2024.

JSCeal is an infostealer distributed as compiled V8 bytecode (.jsc) executed by a bundled Node.js runtime, aimed at cryptocurrency applications. Other vendors track the same family under the names WEEVILPROXY or MeadowLocust. Check Point Research has tracked the campaign since early 2024, with activity dating back to March 2024. The write-up presents a static approach to unpacking the bytecode without executing it.

Check Point Research·Aug 31, 13:38 UTC · 16d agoMalware in the wild1

PDoS: A Profitable Denial-of-Service Attack against Proof-of-Work Blockchain Liveness

PDoS attack disrupts Proof-of-Work blockchain liveness profitably by combining miner deterrence signals with parasitic revenue extraction from victim pools.

PDoS is a hybrid incentive-driven denial-of-service attack that combines block header signal deterrence with parasitic revenue extraction from a victim pool's share-reward mechanism. By subsidizing attack costs through the victim pool, it lowers the hash-power threshold required to induce rational miners to shut down, unlike prior attacks such as BDoS that demand sustained attacker losses. The authors show a counterintuitive result: in high-fee or high-MEV environments, higher block value increases the attacker's parasitic revenue and can push the attack past break-even into a self-sustaining or even profitable regime. PDoS is claimed as the first attack demonstrating that disrupting PoW blockchain liveness can be economically self-sustaining.

arXiv cs.CR·Sep 11, 05:16 UTC · 5d agoResearch

Berlin refuses to be blackmailed after network breach

Rhysida extorts Berlin's state government after stealing 5.79 TB across 1.44 million files, demanding roughly 2 million euros in bitcoin.

Berlin's state government confirmed an extortion attempt after data theft from its administrative network between August 7 and 12, with affected departments disconnected only on August 14. The Rhysida ransomware gang lists 5.79 TB across 1.44 million files on its leak site, including HR files, contracts, 148 IBANs, personal data on 12,076 individuals, and plaintext credentials from internal systems including Berlin's leadership. Der Spiegel reports a 30 bitcoin demand of about 2 million euros; officials say the city will not pay and investigators include the State Criminal Police Office and federal agencies. Forensics revealed additional leaks in the Senate Department for Mobility, Transport, Climate Protection and the Environment, while the Berlin House of Representatives election environment is reported secure.

Help Net Security·Sep 1, 00:00 UTC · 15d agoRansomware in the wild

Hackers Abuse Google Sheets to Hijack Crypto Wallet Addresses in ClickFix Attacks

Cisco Talos details a crypto-theft ClickFix campaign abusing Google Sheets to swap wallet addresses, with about $10,000 in observed Bitcoin losses.

Cisco Talos tracks a ClickFix-style campaign that tricks cryptocurrency traders into pasting JavaScript into Chrome's address bar or a Tampermonkey extension, promising fake bonuses on SwapZone and SimpleSwap. The loader pulls obfuscated JavaScript from cells in a public Google Sheet via the Visualization API, then behaves like a web skimmer, rewriting deposit addresses on screen, in web responses, and in the clipboard. Researchers counted 49 attacker-controlled Bitcoin addresses, with 24 receiving a combined 0.159 BTC, roughly $10,000, by early August 2026. A Tampermonkey variant re-injects the payload on every return visit, giving the attackers persistence despite takedown efforts.

Cyber Security News·Sep 9, 10:57 UTC · 7d agoPhishing & fraud in the wild

Operational Roles of QRNG-Derived Quantum Entropy in Bitcoin Proof-of-Work Architectures

arXiv study finds quantum-random entropy adds no Bitcoin PoW success advantage but helps assurance in fault and provenance scenarios.

The paper shows replacing classical entropy with QRNG output does not change honest Bitcoin proof-of-work success probability when candidate headers remain distinct. It introduces a reproducible benchmark measuring an entropy-efficiency factor and a reboot-diversity index, finding QRNG value only in assurance-oriented scenarios involving correlated restart faults, namespace reuse, and entropy provenance. Validation is simulation-based, with hardware-in-the-loop testing identified as future work.

arXiv cs.CR·Sep 4, 12:47 UTC · 12d agoResearch

Party’s over for scammers who went on spending spree after $240M bitcoin theft

AP report on scammers' spending spree after a $240 million bitcoin social engineering theft, as ringleader Malone Lam nears a plea agreement.

DataBreaches.net syndicates AP reporting on the $240 million bitcoin theft from a Washington, D.C. resident via social engineering calls impersonating Google and Gemini. Alleged ringleader Malone Lam, 22, faces a plea hearing; the scam network spent stolen funds on cars, jets, and mansions before FBI arrests. Crypto investment fraud complaints to the FBI rose nearly 50% in 2025.

DataBreaches.net·Sep 8, 11:32 UTC · 8d agoPolicy & legal

E-Commerce Access, Vedicline Data, Langflow RCE, ASUS Claim, and Energy Shell Access

SOCRadar reports underground posts claiming a Bangladeshi e-commerce database, Vedicline data leak, Langflow RCE, ASUS breach, and energy-sector shell access.

SOCRadar's Dark Web Team identified several new underground posts, including an alleged Bangladeshi e-commerce customer database offered for sale. The roundup also covers a claimed Vedicline data leak, Langflow remote code execution, an ASUS breach claim, and energy-sector shell access sales. Details on record counts and victims were not provided in the excerpt.

SOCRadar·Sep 7, 09:20 UTC · 9d agoData breach

Revolut handed customer data to fraudsters using government email account

Revolut handed sensitive KYC data of high-net-worth crypto customers to fraudsters submitting fake emergency data requests from a compromised government email domain.

Revolut confirmed it disclosed sensitive customer data—including passport and driver's license copies, verification selfies, bank statements, IBANs, and Bitcoin transaction histories—to attackers who submitted fraudulent emergency data requests from a legitimate government agency email account, apparently an Italian domain. Targets were high-net-worth individuals involved in crypto, including Marc Karpelès and entrepreneur Marc Zeller. A Telegram account claiming responsibility posted stolen data as proof and demanded an extortion payment; the account has since been suspended. Revolut says only a limited number of customers were affected and has alerted the relevant government agency, law enforcement, and regulators. The technique mirrors 2021-2022 Lapsus$-linked fraudulent emergency data request scams against Apple, Meta, and Discord.

The Record·Sep 14, 12:00 UTC · 2d agoData breach

HVNC Backdoor Targets LATAM Organizations with Fake Tax and DocuSign Lures

A custom HVNC backdoor is targeting Latin American financial organizations via fake DocuSign and NFe tax-document lures, giving attackers hidden persistent remote access.

ANY.RUN researchers analyzed a multi-stage phishing campaign delivering a custom HVNC backdoor to banking and financial organizations in Latin America. The chain starts with fake DocuSign and NFe tax-document pages that serve per-visitor ZIP archives, followed by an LNK dropper, an NSIS loader, and a 64-bit backdoor masquerading as Windows Update Assistant. The implant provides hidden remote desktop control, keystroke monitoring, Firefox data theft, Startup-folder persistence, and EDR-aware behavior, communicating over TCP/27015.

ANY.RUN·Sep 8, 10:24 UTC · 8d agoMalware in the wild