Bitcoin-based Liquid Network says $320 million withdrawn in hack
- On September 6, an unknown attacker drained about 4,000 BTC, worth $320 million, from Liquid Network's federation wallet. Block production resumed Thursday, but Liquid says the network remains operational "without transactions" to "confirm full stabilization."
- An exploit of a proof-verification flaw in Elements software allowed the attacker to create unbacked L-BTC tokens. The federation incorrectly treated these tokens as legitimate during the withdrawal process.
- The attacker returned 3,400 BTC, worth about $270 million, but kept 600 BTC as a "bounty." Ledger Chief Technology Officer Charles Guillemet questioned the bounty, calling it "extortion."
- Liquid deployed emergency software updates to patch the vulnerability, yet peg operations and transactions remain suspended. The network has not provided a timeline for restoring bridge services.
- The incident sparked industry debate regarding the "white-hat" label for crypto exploits.
159 Articles
159 Articles
Liquid Network Hacked: $320M Bitcoin Drained in 2026 Exploit
An attacker exploited a software bug in Liquid Network to create unbacked L-BTC tokens, draining 4,000 bitcoin ($320 million) from reserves. They returned 3,400 BTC but kept $47 million as a "bounty." Here's how the exploit worked, why Liquid's security model failed, and what it means for Bitcoin's sidechain future.
Liquid Network halts new transactions after 'nice guy' hackers steal nearly all its Bitcoin — but then return most of it after a patch is issued
Liquid Network is still disrupted, but users can breathe a sigh of relief as most of the stolen funds have been returned.
Attackers Drained 4,000 Bitcoin From Blockstream's Liquid Network. They Say They Are White Hats and Want to Give It Back.
A bug in Liquid's code let someone mint Bitcoin-backed tokens out of thin air, drain 95% of the federation wallet, and then claim they did it to help. Whether that story holds up depends on what happens to the coins they kept.
The attack became a large-scale security test of Liquid: about $320 million was controlled by white hackers, but about 85% of the stolen funds had already returned to the system after the program error had been corrected.
Coverage Details
Bias Distribution
- 60% of the sources are Center
![[your]NEWS](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fgroundnews.b-cdn.net%2Finterests%2Ffb6dc495f74049f513563c33352175eaa0ecd509.jpg%3Fwidth%3D60&w=128&q=75)
Factuality
To view factuality data please Upgrade to Premium
