LIQUID NETWORK HACKER ALLEGEDLY STOLE $340M, RETURNED MOST

A Liquid Network hacker allegedly swiped $340 million in bitcoin, then returned most of it after a bug was fixed.

Approximately 4,000 bitcoins were allegedly withdrawn from a Liquid Network wallet on September 6, 2026, Dexerto reported. That haul was worth about $340 million at the time.

Liquid said on X that a “white hat” hacker took the funds from its wallet, Yahoo Finance reported.

The hacker’s identity was not known. Reports said the attacker allegedly exploited a bug to pull the money out, though the technical details were not confirmed.

What Liquid Network is

Liquid is a Bitcoin settlement network launched by Blockstream and used by several cryptocurrency exchanges. TechCrunch described it as a settlement exchange.

After the incident, Liquid paused operations. It said they would stay paused until the incident was resolved.

The hacker’s terms were simple. They said they would return the funds if Blockstream fixed the bug.

TechCrunch also said the theft ranked among the largest crypto thefts of the year, citing the Rekt leaderboard, which tracks cryptocurrency thefts.

What happened next

On September 7, 2026, Samson Mow, a former Blockstream executive, said the bug had been fixed. He said about 3,400 of the roughly 4,000 stolen bitcoins had been returned.

Mow also said Liquid would not restart until additional fixes and security improvements were made.

That left about 600 bitcoins unaccounted for, valued at roughly $47 million in the reports.

Digital Market Reports added that the funds were withdrawn from the Liquid Federation wallet. It also reported that exchanges were notified to suspend L-BTC deposits and withdrawals until operations resumed.

No arrest or charge has been reported, and the hacker has not been identified.

The latest update, published October 16, 2026, still put about 600 bitcoins, worth roughly $47 million, under the hacker’s control. No newer recovery or legal outcome has been reported.