NEAR Intents Says Exploited $3.8 Million Is Back, Closes Its Hack Investigation

AI summary of the source article

Cross-chain trading protocol NEAR Intents announced that all $3.8 million stolen in an October 1 exploit has been returned, leading the team to close its investigation. General manager Alex Shevchenko and NEAR co-founder Illia Polosukhin stated that the attacker was identified within 24 hours using internal tracing and the SHIELD AI security layer. The attacker returned assets via multiple transfers, including roughly 34.6 Bitcoin and BNB/Ethereum transactions with an attached apology note. The exploit was linked to an interaction bug between Omni deposit and withdrawal infrastructure and NEAR Intents smart contracts, which was patched within an hour without impacting the broader NEAR blockchain.

Why it matters

The incident demonstrates rapid exploit resolution and internal tracing within cross-chain protocols handling billions of dollars in monthly transaction volume.

Key facts

• NEAR Intents recovered the full $3.8 million stolen in an October 1 exploit and closed its investigation.
• The attacker returned funds across multiple chains, including roughly 34.6 Bitcoin, after the team identified the perpetrator within 24 hours.
• The vulnerability was traced to a bug in Omni deposit and withdrawal infrastructure confined to USDT on BSC, which was patched in under an hour.