Blockstream is refusing to "pay a ransom" for the 598.5 $BTC still held by the attackers after the Liquid exploit.
3,400 BTC was returned after Blockstream confirmed the affected bridge nodes were patched.
But roughly $47M is still sitting with the people who exploited the bug.
And honestly, this is where the whole "white hat" label gets complicated.
If there was no agreement that allowed the attackers to keep a portion of the funds, what exactly is the $47M?
A bounty? A negotiation? Or simply money they decided to keep after exploiting the system?
Blockstream's position is clear: Bitcoin can't just be minted to make the loss disappear, and users shouldn't have to take the haircut.
Now they're going after the remaining funds work with law enforcement, exchanges and forensic specialists to trace the remaining funds if they are not returned.
The exploit may be patched, but the most interesting part of this story might be what
happens to those 598.5 $BTC next.
Withdrawals to the Bitcoin network still remain disabled.
3,400 BTC was returned after Blockstream confirmed the affected bridge nodes were patched.
But roughly $47M is still sitting with the people who exploited the bug.
And honestly, this is where the whole "white hat" label gets complicated.
If there was no agreement that allowed the attackers to keep a portion of the funds, what exactly is the $47M?
A bounty? A negotiation? Or simply money they decided to keep after exploiting the system?
Blockstream's position is clear: Bitcoin can't just be minted to make the loss disappear, and users shouldn't have to take the haircut.
Now they're going after the remaining funds work with law enforcement, exchanges and forensic specialists to trace the remaining funds if they are not returned.
The exploit may be patched, but the most interesting part of this story might be what
happens to those 598.5 $BTC next.
Withdrawals to the Bitcoin network still remain disabled.
