NEAR Intents says it blocked $50M tied to Bitget hackers

What happened

NEAR Intents said it blocked more than $50 million in attempted transfers linked to the Bitget hack. Shevchenko said its SHIELD system detected and blocked more than $50 million in attempted transfers, which subsequently went to other providers.

The post came as THORChain faced calls to block addresses linked to the attack, underscoring a tension that permissionless crypto protocols face — offering open access while seeking to curb illicit activity. The cross-chain protocol said it actively prevents stolen funds from being laundered, drawing a contrast with THORChain’s position that it does not selectively censor transactions.

Attackers stole $387.5 million from Bitget on Thursday. It managed to freeze $503,000 in funds during execution, while around $166,000 in suspected stolen funds passed through.

Shevchenko argued that permissionless systems do not necessarily have to be neutral. Shevchenko said the frozen funds would be returned through an appropriate legal process. Bitget CEO Gracy Chen on Friday also called on THORChain, a decentralized protocol for swapping assets between blockchains, to refuse services to addresses linked to the attack.