{"id":561940,"date":"2026-09-12T08:20:37","date_gmt":"2026-09-12T07:20:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cryptoslate.com\/?p=561940"},"modified":"2026-09-11T19:36:12","modified_gmt":"2026-09-11T18:36:12","slug":"blockstream-bets-600-bitcoin-by-rejecting-liquid-hackers-50-million-bounty-demand","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cryptoslate.com\/blockstream-bets-600-bitcoin-by-rejecting-liquid-hackers-50-million-bounty-demand\/","title":{"rendered":"Blockstream bets 600 Bitcoin by rejecting Liquid hacker\u2019s $50 million bounty demand"},"content":{"rendered":"

Blockstream is refusing to pay the Liquid attacker nearly 600 Bitcoin (roughly $50 million), escalating a dispute over how the crypto industry should reward\u00a0partial restitution.<\/p>\n

The standoff follows an unusual recovery from the Sept. 6 exploit, when a vulnerability allowed the attacker to create about 4,000 unbacked L-BTC and withdraw roughly 3,996 real BTC through SideSwap.<\/a><\/p>\n

The attacker returned 3,400 BTC<\/a> after Blockstream patched affected nodes, then demanded a 10% bounty paid from Blockstream\u2019s<\/a> own funds and warned that holders could otherwise bear a roughly 15% shortfall.<\/p>\n

\"Blockstream
Table compiles on-chain messages attributed to the Liquid hackers and Blockstream, including PGP-signed exchanges and transactions connected to the return of 3,400 BTC. Source: Galaxy Research<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

On Sept. 11, Blockstream rejected the demand and said it would pursue the remaining funds through law enforcement, exchanges, service providers, and forensic specialists if they are not voluntarily returned.<\/p>\n

The decision has opened a broader argument over whether refusing to compensate an attacker who returned about 85% of the haul strengthens deterrence or gives the next hacker less reason to return anything.<\/p>\n

Blockstream's rare recovery turns into a fight over incentives<\/h2>\n

The return of 3,400 BTC shifted the fight from recovering stolen funds to defining what cooperation after an exploit is worth.<\/p>\n

Lorenzo Romagnoli, co-founder of USDT0<\/a>, said<\/a> Blockstream had already received an outcome that most hacked crypto protocols could only hope for. He argued that an attacker linked to North Korea<\/a> or another committed criminal group would have little incentive to voluntarily send back hundreds of millions of dollars.<\/p>\n

Romagnoli said<\/a>:<\/p>\n

“Blockstream is already in the 1% of the 1% of luckiest hacked protocols on the planet.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

He said Blockstream retains every right to identify and prosecute the attacker, but warned that refusing a substantial bounty could change future hackers' calculations. A grey-hat attacker weighing whether to return stolen funds may see little upside in cooperation if restitution brings the same pursuit as keeping the entire haul.<\/p>\n

That argument collides with Blockstream\u2019s concern that paying would create a different incentive: allowing an attacker to exploit open-source infrastructure, seize user assets and then establish the price for returning them.<\/p>\n

Blockstream said it would not establish a precedent in which developers of open-source software could be forced to pay a demand that \u201cfar exceeds their economic participation.\u201d It also rejected the attacker\u2019s white-hat characterization and urged the party to \u201creturn the Bitcoin.\u201d<\/p>\n\n

\n \n
\n Related Reading<\/span>\n

Tokens created out of thin air may explain how $320 million in Bitcoin left the Liquid sidechain<\/h3>\n <\/div>\n \n <\/i>\n <\/span>\n <\/a>\n<\/div>\n\n

Samson Mow,<\/a> a former Blockstream chief strategy officer and chief executive of Bitcoin company Jan3, also challenged<\/a> the economics behind the attacker\u2019s demand.<\/p>\n

The attacker had criticized Blockstream for allegedly spending too little to protect roughly $5 billion in assets issued across Liquid. Mow said that figure combines L-BTC, Tether, and real-world assets that belong to different issuers and holders, making the network\u2019s total asset value an inappropriate basis for determining a bounty.<\/p>\n

He said:<\/p>\n

\u201cBounty amounts cannot be calculated based on the network\u2019s overall total value. Regardless of how the rest is negotiated, all users\u2019 assets must be returned in full.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The circumstances preceding the withdrawal have also complicated the attacker\u2019s white-hat claim. SideSwap said<\/a> the party spent hours rehearsing the transaction pattern before creating the unbacked L-BTC, with 70 similar transactions preceding the successful mint.<\/p>\n

The wallet used to initiate the attack had received funding that traced through a cross-chain bridge to Tornado Cash. In view of this, SideSwap called the event a \u201cdeliberate and prepared attack,” while adding<\/a> that:<\/p>\n

“We stand with Blockstream. The bitcoin left the Liquid reserve through our peg-out service and we have given Blockstream everything we have to help trace and recover it. Our fee on it is already returned. Return the Bitcoin.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The last 600 BTC may be more useful unspent<\/strong><\/h2>\n

With the bounty rejected, the remaining 598.5 BTC can continue putting pressure on Liquid even if the coins never move.<\/p>\n

Bitcoin researcher Alex Waltz questioned<\/a> whether the attacker genuinely expects to spend the coins. According to him, the wallet is closely watched, and moving the BTC through exchanges<\/a>, custodians, or other identifiable services could provide investigators with additional leads.<\/p>\n

That creates another possible motive for keeping the funds.<\/p>\n

Waltz said the attacker effectively faced two choices after returning most of the haul: return everything and hope Blockstream provides a generous reward, or retain a portion that may be difficult to spend but can continue inflicting an economic cost on Liquid.<\/p>\n

He added:<\/p>\n

\u201cIf the hackers are somewhat well off, and had a good reason to hate Blockstream\/Liquid, it seems the only way they can \u2018monetize\u2019 this situation is to keep the 600 BTC.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

He also raised the possibility that investigators could eventually obtain clues from artificial intelligence<\/a> services used by the attacker if models were accessed through identifiable API accounts, though no evidence has emerged publicly showing that such services were used.<\/p>\n

The economic pressure is already visible on Liquid.<\/p>\n

SideSwap said on Sept. 10 that 4,205 L-BTC remained in circulation while the federation reserve held 3,597 BTC, leaving about 85% reserve coverage after the returned bitcoin was added back. Liquid has resumed producing blocks and SideSwap markets have reopened, but peg-ins and peg-outs remain disabled while the federation completes its security review.<\/p>\n

Blockstream Chief Executive Adam Back<\/a> said the L-BTC-to-BTC peg will ultimately be covered<\/a> one-for-one and urged holders not to sell at a discount. Blockstream has yet to detail how it will finance the roughly 600-BTC gap if the attacker refuses to return the funds, or when it will resume full redemptions.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, SideSwap has said it will keep its peg service offline until the federation introduces a new security architecture and will disclose the changes before reopening it. Blockstream\u2019s alternative path now depends on tracing the remaining BTC and identifying whoever controls it.<\/p>\n

Until either the coins return or the reserve hole is filled from elsewhere, Liquid\u2019s markets can trade again while its core promise of converting L-BTC back into Bitcoin remains suspended.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Blockstream is refusing to pay the Liquid attacker nearly 600 Bitcoin (roughly $50 million), escalating a dispute over how the crypto industry should reward\u00a0partial restitution. The standoff follows an unusual recovery from the Sept. 6 exploit, when a vulnerability allowed the attacker to create about 4,000 unbacked L-BTC and withdraw roughly 3,996 real BTC through […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":720,"featured_media":562030,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[76799,107,77968,16041],"tags":[],"prediction_market_topic":[],"post_folder":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nBlockstream bets 600 Bitcoin by rejecting Liquid hacker\u2019s $50 million bounty demand<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Blockstream\u2019s refusal to pay for the remaining 598 BTC is testing whether protocols should prioritize deterrence over negotiated recovery.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/cryptoslate.com\/blockstream-bets-600-bitcoin-by-rejecting-liquid-hackers-50-million-bounty-demand\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Blockstream bets 600 Bitcoin by rejecting Liquid hacker\u2019s $50 million bounty demand\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Blockstream\u2019s refusal to pay for the remaining 598 BTC is testing whether protocols should prioritize deterrence over negotiated recovery.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/cryptoslate.com\/blockstream-bets-600-bitcoin-by-rejecting-liquid-hackers-50-million-bounty-demand\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"CryptoSlate\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-09-12T07:20:37+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-09-11T18:36:12+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/cryptoslate.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/blockstream-bitcoin-bounty-gap.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1280\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Oluwapelumi Adejumo\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@cryptoslate\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@cryptoslate\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Oluwapelumi Adejumo\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"NewsArticle\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cryptoslate.com\/blockstream-bets-600-bitcoin-by-rejecting-liquid-hackers-50-million-bounty-demand\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cryptoslate.com\/blockstream-bets-600-bitcoin-by-rejecting-liquid-hackers-50-million-bounty-demand\/\"},\"author\":{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cryptoslate.com\/author\/oluwapelumi-adejumo\/#person\",\"name\":\"Oluwapelumi Adejumo\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/cryptoslate.com\/author\/oluwapelumi-adejumo\/\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cryptoslate.com\/author\/oluwapelumi-adejumo\/\"},\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cryptoslate.com\/author\/oluwapelumi-adejumo\/#authorimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/cryptoslate.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/profile-photo-oluwapelumi-adejumo-300x300.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/cryptoslate.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/profile-photo-oluwapelumi-adejumo-300x300.jpg\",\"caption\":\"Oluwapelumi Adejumo\"},\"jobTitle\":\"Senior Reporter\",\"description\":\"Oluwapelumi values Bitcoin's potential. 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