NEAR Intents GM Says $3.865 Million Exploit Funds Were Returned

NEAR Intents general manager Alex Shevchenko said the full $3.865 million taken in an exploit tied to Omni’s deposit-and-withdrawal infrastructure was returned, ending a security incident that temporarily halted services across 11 networks.

The loss involved 3,865,000 Tether (USDT) withdrawn from a NEAR Intents-linked vault on BNB Chain in five major transactions between Sept. 30 at 7:54 p.m. ET (Sept. 30, 23:54 UTC) and Oct. 1 at 2:08 a.m. ET (06:08 UTC). Two test withdrawals of 10 USDT and 11 USDT came first.

NEAR Intents disclosed the incident at about 8:53 a.m. ET Oct. 1 and said the flaw was patched within an hour. The protocol paused deposits and withdrawals across 11 networks while Omni’s infrastructure was repaired.

The impact was limited to USDT on BNB Chain. The NEAR blockchain, NEAR token and other applications were not affected, and affected users were promised full compensation.

Shevchenko gave the attacker 48 hours to return the funds, writing, “We have identified you, sir.” He later said the money had been returned in full on Oct. 2. On-chain records confirm that 34.59 Bitcoin (BTC) reached a return address published by the team.