Crypto Swap Tool Near Intents Hacked for $3.8 Million

A bug let an attacker steal $3.8M from Near Intents, just days after it blocked a North Korea-linked hacker. NEAR token fell nearly 9%.

A popular crypto tool called Near Intents was hacked on Thursday, losing about $3.8 million to an attacker who exploited a software flaw.

Near Intents is a service that lets people swap one cryptocurrency for another across different blockchains (the digital networks that record crypto transactions). Think of it as a currency-exchange counter that never closes — you say what you want, and trading firms compete to give you the best price. It has handled over $30 billion in swaps.

The problem came from a bug in the part of the system that handles deposits and withdrawals. This 'middle layer' temporarily holds users' money while moving it between blockchains — and because it pools funds together, it's a tempting target for thieves.

Here are the key facts:

$3.8 million was stolen in the attack
The NEAR token (the cryptocurrency that powers the network) dropped 8.93% to $4.86
Shares of a related ETF (a fund you can buy through a normal brokerage account to invest in crypto without owning it directly) fell more than 7%
The hacked funds were moved to an exchange called KuCoin and converted into Bitcoin

An on-chain investigator known as ZachXBT traced where the money went. Near Intents says it has reported the theft to law enforcement and is working with experts to recover the funds.

Interestingly, this hack came just two days after Near Intents blocked a $50 million swap attempt from a hacker linked to North Korea — the same group suspected of stealing around $387.5 million from the Bitget exchange last week. It's unclear if the two incidents are connected.

The good news for users: Near Intents has promised to compensate all lost funds in full. This matters because, unlike regular bank deposits, crypto accounts have no deposit insurance to protect your money if something goes wrong.

The company says the bug is now patched and services should return soon, with a detailed report coming in the next few days.

This is an AI-generated summary. Read the original article at: https://decrypt.co/379822/near-intents-hacked-days-after-denying-bitget-hacker