A hacker stole 1000’s of bitcoins price about $340 million in a heist at a settlement alternate utilized by a number of cryptocurrency exchanges, representing one of many largest recognized thefts of crypto this yr.
Liquid Community, which launched in 2018 by crypto agency Blockstream, stated in a post on X on Sunday {that a} “white hat” hacker stole the funds from the community’s pockets, and that it has paused operations till the incident is resolved.
It’s not but recognized who the hacker is, however crypto media reports that the hacker allegedly exploited a bug to withdraw the funds. The hacker stated they’d return the funds if Blockstream fixed the bug.
Former Blockstream govt Samson Mow stated in a post on X on Monday that the corporate had fastened the bug, and round 3,400 of the roughly 4,000 stolen bitcoins had been returned. The remaining about 600 bitcoins (about $47 million) have been nonetheless underneath the hacker’s management.
Mow stated operations will stay paused till extra fixes and safety enhancements are made previous to restarting.
The theft ranks as one of many largest heists of digital funds to this point, in line with the Rekt leaderboard, which tracks cryptocurrency thefts.