Cosmos Hub Recovers $2.2 Million in ATOM as 169,000 Escape
Validators halted the network for nearly 25 hours to move 1.23 million ATOM into a recovery address, but a later refund reached the attacker-linked wallet.
Cosmos Hub validators recovered about $2.2 million in stolen ATOM after halting the network, but a separate 168,990.9 ATOM refund reached the attacker-linked wallet after the sweep.
The Hub stopped producing blocks at 33,086,740 and resumed at block 33,086,741 on Sept. 23, ending a halt of about 24 hours and 48 minutes. The restart moved 1,227,121.374688 Cosmos (ATOM) from an address linked to an exploit on Neutron into a recovery address.
The recovered ATOM is now held in a community validator multisig while Cosmos Hub, Neutron and affected protocols coordinate its return. Cosmos Hub’s network was not exploited; validators halted it to contain assets moved from Neutron.
The remaining tokens came through a THORChain refund that arrived at the attacker-linked wallet seven blocks after the restart. The wallet then routed the tokens through Osmosis, exchanging them for about 266,841 USDC before converting some proceeds into Ether (ETH).
The Neutron incident followed an expedited governance proposal that reassigned control over 11 smart contracts, including infrastructure used by Astroport and Drop.
