$320 Million Bitcoin Hack Hits Liquid Crypto Network

In a post on social platform X Sunday (Sept. 6), the company said a group of “purported white-hat hackers” were behind the incidents. This is a reference to hackers who breach systems to highlight security flaws, although often with the owner’s consent. In some cases, these hackers ask for a fee to return the funds they move.

“Liquid wallets will be impacted, and we’re sorry for any inconvenience,” the Liquid Network said in the post, adding it has paused new transactions. “Federation members are actively working on resolving this so we can restore normal network activity.”

The hacker is communicating with network maintainers through Bitcoin transactions, saying the money will be returned after the vulnerability is repaired, CoinDesk reported Monday (Sept. 7).

“Please fix the bug first,” one message said, per the report. “The chain is under risk at latest commit right now. Make sure every node is patched. Then we will transfer the money back safely after confirming the fix.”

The hack is part of a series of incidents highlighting cybersecurity issues within the digital asset space, the report said. Last week, a hacker stole $6 million from the crypto lending platform Tectonic. In August, attackers exploited a flaw affecting older versions of firmware used by Coldcard, a Bitcoin hardware wallet made by Coinkite. Losses in that case have been estimated at between $115 million and $130 million.