{"id":32977,"date":"2026-10-01T18:37:03","date_gmt":"2026-10-01T17:37:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/investx.fr\/en\/2026\/10\/01\/near-intents-hack-3-8-million-north-korea-bitget\/"},"modified":"2026-10-01T18:37:11","modified_gmt":"2026-10-01T17:37:11","slug":"near-intents-hack-3-8-million-north-korea-bitget","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/investx.fr\/en\/crypto-news\/near-intents-hack-3-8-million-north-korea-bitget\/","title":{"rendered":"Near Intents Hacked for $3.8M: Explosive Timing After Refusing a North Korea-Linked Hacker"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A cross-chain swap protocol hacked for $3.8 million<\/strong>. A bug exploited within hours. And a timing that raises serious questions: the incident occurred just days after Near Intents<\/strong> refused to process funds from a hacker allegedly linked to North Korea<\/strong> \u2014 the same individual implicated in the Bitget<\/strong> affair.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Coincidence or escalation? The crypto community is holding its breath. Near Intents<\/strong> immediately froze its operations and pledged to fully reimburse all affected users.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here is everything we know about this attack and what it reveals about the persistent vulnerabilities in cross-chain DeFi protocols<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Fatal Bug in Cross-Chain Swaps: How the Attack Unfolded<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Near Intents<\/strong> is a protocol designed to facilitate asset exchanges across different blockchains \u2014 what the industry refers to as cross-chain swaps<\/a><\/strong>. It was precisely within this mechanism that an attacker identified and exploited a critical vulnerability, allowing them to drain approximately $3.8 million<\/strong> in assets from the protocol.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As soon as the exploit was detected, the Near Intents<\/strong> team made the decision to freeze all cross-chain swaps<\/strong> in order to stop the bleeding. This swift response helped limit the scale of the damage, but could not prevent the initial loss. The protocol subsequently issued a public confirmation of the incident and committed to reimbursing every affected user \u2014 a strong signal, though one that raises questions about whether the protocol holds sufficient reserves to cover those losses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The precise technical details of the bug had not yet been publicly disclosed at the time of writing, which is standard practice to avoid enabling similar attacks on other protocols. A full post-mortem audit<\/strong> is expected in the coming days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Context That Makes This Hack Particularly Troubling<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

What makes this incident stand out is its timing. Just days before the hack, Near Intents<\/strong> had refused to process funds belonging to a hacker allegedly linked to North Korea<\/strong> \u2014 an individual already implicated in the Bitget affair<\/a>, a crypto exchange that had itself suffered an attack attributed to North Korean state-sponsored actors, most notably the Lazarus Group<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That refusal, rooted in compliance<\/strong> obligations and anti-money laundering principles, may have exposed Near Intents<\/strong> to targeted retaliation. While no direct link between the two events has been established at this stage, the proximity in timing is fueling speculation across the community. The Lazarus Group<\/strong> is well known for its sophisticated offensive capabilities and its ability to identify vulnerabilities in complex DeFi protocols.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This situation highlights a growing dilemma for decentralized protocols: enforcing compliance measures exposes platforms to the risk of retaliation<\/strong>, while ignoring malicious actors exposes them to regulatory sanctions. Both options carry significant risks for the security and reputation of any platform.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cross-Chain DeFi: An Attack Surface That Remains a Prime Target<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The attack on Near Intents<\/strong> fits into a broader and well-established pattern: cross-chain protocols remain among the most vulnerable targets<\/a><\/strong> in the DeFi<\/strong> ecosystem. According to data from CryptoQuant<\/strong> and blockchain security reports, bridges<\/strong> and interoperability protocols accounted for a disproportionate share of hack-related losses in 2023 and 2024, representing several hundreds of millions of dollars stolen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The inherent complexity of these systems \u2014 which must manage state across multiple blockchains simultaneously \u2014 multiplies the attack surface considerably. A single bug in the transaction validation logic can be enough to compromise an entire protocol. That appears to be exactly the scenario that played out here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For Near Intents<\/strong> users, the reimbursement pledge offers short-term reassurance. But it does not resolve the fundamental question: how did a protocol that had already identified malicious actors in its immediate environment fail to strengthen its defenses beforehand?<\/strong> The answer to that question will determine Near Intents’ credibility<\/a> in the weeks ahead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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