"White Hat" Hackers Take $47 Million Bounty After $320 Million Crypto Theft
On 7 September, hackers using the handle of purported white-hats withdrew 4,000 BTC (~US$320 million) from the wallet of Liquid Network, a Blockstream-run bitcoin sidechain, and over roughly twelve hours negotiated publicly on the blockchain with the company's representatives, demanding that Blockstream fix an alleged vulnerability in the Elements software before returning funds.
| Attribute | Detail |
|---|---|
| Date | 7 September 2026 |
| Amount | 4,000 BTC (~$320M) withdrawn |
| Returned | ~$266.5M worth of bitcoin returned on Monday |
| Kept | ~598.5 BTC (~$47M) as a "reward" |
| Cause | Alleged Elements software vulnerability (traced by CertiK) |
| Source | The Record — Tier 2/4 |
The attack returned most of the funds and kept ~US$47 million as a negotiated "reward" after claiming the theft stemmed from a bug in the Elements software. Blockchain security experts including CertiK traced the issue to an Elements vulnerability. The incident — one of the largest crypto thefts of 2026 after April's North Korean-linked $290M and $280M thefts — has ignited debate over the source of the flaw and the propriety of a negotiated bounty.