Liquid Network recovers 3,400 BTC from whitehat hackers after $320M-linked breach as talks continue

Liquid Network was reported to have been involved in a $320 million bitcoin-linked breach, with the incident prompting discussion of security and trust issues around federated sidechains and mainstream financial adoption goals ^{[1] [2]}.

CoinDesk reported that actors described as “whitehat hackers” returned 3,400 of the 4,000 BTC they took from Liquid Network, leaving nearly $47 million in bitcoin still outstanding ^[3].

Crypto Briefing similarly reported that Liquid Network recovered 3,400 BTC and that talks were continuing regarding the remaining $47M ^[2].

Cointelegraph reported that the actors returned 85% of the bitcoin withdrawn from Liquid’s federation wallet and that the network prepared to restart ^[4].

Catenaa Market Insights reported that Liquid Network halted new transactions after the Sunday withdrawal of nearly 4,000 bitcoin (about $320 million), and also noted that the attackers’ identity and intentions were unverified and that Liquid had not confirmed the bitcoin would be returned ^[5].