$NEAR Intents Investigates Exploit and Traces Stolen Funds
$NEAR Intents said it reported the incident to law enforcement and is working with security and blockchain analytics firms to trace the stolen funds. The platform expected its core services to resume quickly, although deposits and withdrawals on several supported networks were expected to remain unavailable for longer while fixes were completed.
Blockchain investigator ZachXBT said the exploit began with irregular withdrawals from a BNB Chain hot wallet linked to $NEAR Intents. He said the stolen funds were then sent to crypto exchange KuCoin and bridged into bitcoin BTC$83,836.17.
Multiple Networks Affected
$NEAR Intents’ status page showed issues affecting $BNB Smart Chain, Polygon, TON, Optimism, Avalanche, Stellar, Monad, X Layer, ADI, Scroll and Plasma. The service interruptions were tied to the platform’s efforts to complete fixes following the exploit, with deposits and withdrawals on the affected networks remaining unavailable beyond the expected restoration of core services.
The incident adds to a difficult year for crypto security. Just last week, exchange Bitget suffered an exploit that resulted in over $350 million in stolen assets. Other major incidents included Liquid Network at about $320 million, Drift at $295 million and Kelp at $293 million, according to DefiLlama data.
Why This Matters
The $NEAR Intents incident highlights the continuing security risks facing crypto platforms that manage hot wallets and support transactions across multiple blockchain networks. The involvement of law enforcement, blockchain analytics firms and investigators such as ZachXBT indicates that tracing the movement of stolen assets is a central part of the response. Service availability is expected to depend on the completion of network-specific fixes and the platform’s ongoing investigation.
Frequently Asked Questions
What happened to $NEAR Intents?
$NEAR Intents experienced an exploit that began with irregular withdrawals from a BNB Chain hot wallet linked to the platform, according to ZachXBT.
Where were the stolen funds sent?
ZachXBT said the stolen funds were sent to KuCoin and then bridged into bitcoin BTC$83,836.17.
Which networks experienced service issues?
The affected networks listed on the status page were $BNB Smart Chain, Polygon, TON, Optimism, Avalanche, Stellar, Monad, X Layer, ADI, Scroll and Plasma.