Bitcoin · Lombard Finance · The Block
‘Return the bitcoin’: Blockstream refuses ransom demand for remaining 600 BTC from Liquid exploit
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"Return the bitcoin," Blockstream told those responsible for the Liquid Network exploit on Friday, saying it would not pay a bounty for the remaining 598.5 BTC.
Key facts
- In a Wednesday OP_RETURN message, the exploiter had asked Blockstream for 10% as a bug bounty, claiming the company had spent $1.5 million, "maybe even 0," securing $5 billion in assets
- On Sept. 7, the exploiter returned roughly 3,400 BTC following an earlier onchain message telling Blockstream to "fix the bug first" before "most" of the funds would be sent back
- A new Elements release, v23.3.4, was deployed on Sept. 9
- Return the bitcoin," Blockstream told those responsible for the Liquid Network exploit on Friday, saying it would not pay a bounty for the remaining 598.5 BTC
Summary
Blockstream said it had tried to secure the return of the funds in good faith but rejected the terms being demanded. "We will not be a party to the precedent that open-source software developed for the good of the Bitcoin community should subject its developers to paying a ransom that far exceeds their economic participation," Blockstream added, thanking the Bitcoin community for its support. The company said the attacker still had an opportunity to resolve the situation and return the bitcoin (BTC). "Transactions do not disappear, and neither does the evidence they leave behind," Blockstream added.