NEAR Intents froze $50 million in assets after the Bitget hack

NEAR Intents says its SHIELD screening system blocked around $50 million in assets linked to the Bitget hack, while about $166,000 still made it through. For high-risk operators and PSPs, the point is simple: cross-chain movement after an incident can be slowed down, but it is not automatically stopped unless the screening layer catches it.

1. Shchevchenko said attempts to move funds through NEAR Intents started shortly after the attack on Bitget, which is estimated to have caused about $387.5 million in damage. The attackers used several blockchains and tried to move part of the assets into the Ethereum network.
2. According to the project head, SHIELD checks transactions using data from blockchain analytics firms, providers, and independent researchers. If the system sees suspicious funds, the protocol can refuse to quote the swap or stop the operation at the execution stage.
3. Shchevchenko admitted that about $166,000 in assets connected to the attack still made it through NEAR Intents. He also said the figures are rounded and that the error in identifying the origin of funds can reach 10%.
4. The NEAR Intents team also отказалась from a 5% reward for freezing the funds and another 5% it could have received if the assets were returned to Bitget. Shchevchenko said the team wanted more of the recovered money to go back to the affected exchange and its customers. The frozen assets will remain inaccessible until the legal process is completed and the return procedure is agreed.
5. Earlier, the anonymous blockchain researcher ZachXBT published the pseudonyms of five people suspected of laundering funds stolen in the Bitget breach.

Bitget said it reopened bitcoin withdrawals to clients on Monday, 28 September. On Tuesday, 29 October, ether withdrawals were reopened through Ethereum, BSC, Arbitrum, Base, and Optimism.