Crypto Hacker Returns Most of $340 Million Liquid Network Theft After Exploit

A hacker stole thousands of bitcoins worth about $340 million from Liquid Network, a settlement network used by cryptocurrency exchanges, in one of the year’s largest digital asset thefts.

Liquid Network, launched by crypto company Blockstream in 2018, said the incident involved unauthorised withdrawals from its wallet. The network paused operations while it investigated the security issue and worked to resolve the incident.

Funds Returned After Security Fix

The hacker’s identity remains unknown, but reports suggest the attacker exploited a vulnerability to withdraw the funds. The hacker reportedly claimed the funds would be returned if Blockstream fixed the underlying issue.

Former Blockstream executive Samson Mow said the vulnerability had been fixed and that around 3,400 of the approximately 4,000 stolen bitcoins had been returned.

The remaining roughly 600 bitcoins, worth about $47 million at the time of reporting, remained under the hacker’s control. Liquid Network said it would complete additional security improvements before resuming normal operations.

One of the Largest Crypto Theft Incidents

Reports described the attack as one of the year’s largest cryptocurrency exploits. The case has renewed attention on security risks affecting blockchain networks and digital asset infrastructure.

According to the Rekt leaderboard tracking major crypto losses, the theft ranks among the largest recorded digital asset heists.