NEAR Intents Recovers $3.8M After Exploit

Published: 2026-10-03 04:59:59 |

NEAR Intents recovered the full $3.8 million stolen in a 1 October exploit, less than 16 hours after general manager Alex Shevchenko gave the attacker 48 hours to return the funds. The recovery ended the investigation, although the team has not released a detailed incident report. Blockchain data shows about 34.59 BTC, worth roughly $2.95 million at the time, was sent to an official Bitcoin address. Only small amounts reached the disclosed BNB and Ethereum addresses, while the Solana address received almost nothing. Shevchenko said the remaining funds may have been returned through another channel. The exploit reportedly involved a vulnerability in Omni’s deposit and withdrawal infrastructure and smart contracts. Losses were limited to USDT on BNB Chain. NEAR’s mainnet and NEAR token were not affected, and the vulnerability was fixed within an hour of discovery. NEAR Intents said its SHIELD AI monitoring layer and internal investigation helped identify the attacker. The platform is urging researchers to use its bug bounty programme, which offers up to $300,000 for critical smart-contract flaws and $100,000 for cross-chain bridge vulnerabilities.

Neutral

The direct price impact on NEAR is likely neutral because the exploit did not affect NEAR’s mainnet or NEAR token, and the stolen funds were reportedly limited to USDT on BNB Chain. Full recovery reduces immediate solvency and contagion concerns, which may support confidence in NEAR-related applications but does not create a clear fundamental catalyst for NEAR price appreciation. In the short term, traders may monitor wallet movements, the identity of the attacker and any further technical disclosures. The unusual routing of recovered funds and the lack of a detailed incident report could keep security concerns active and cause temporary volatility in NEAR-related assets. Over the longer term, a transparent post-mortem, stronger cross-chain controls and effective bug-bounty activity could improve platform confidence. Conversely, evidence of deeper infrastructure weaknesses could renew selling pressure. On balance, the recovery offsets much of the negative sentiment, leaving the expected impact on NEAR’s price neutral.