Liquid Bridge Hackers Return Most Stolen Bitcoin

The hackers behind the recent Liquid network bridge attack returned 3400 Bitcoin on Monday. This amounts to about 85 percent of the funds taken over the weekend. Blockstream patched the security vulnerability before the transfer took place, fulfilling a condition set by the attackers.

Moving funds out of the bridge normally requires approval from eleven of the fifteen companies running the network. However, the stolen coins bypassed this rule and went straight to a new address. Blockstream verified the software updates on Monday morning, prompting the attackers to send the majority of the funds back to the network.

Despite the massive refund, roughly 598 Bitcoin remains in the control of the hackers. Security experts point out that keeping millions of dollars in stolen funds raises questions about the true motives behind the exploit. Blockstream has shut down the bridge temporarily and has not yet announced when normal operations will resume.