NEAR Intents Restarts After $3.8 Million Exploit, Promises Full Compensation

Oct. 2 (CandyPulse) — NEAR Intents, a protocol that lets users swap crypto across different blockchains, is back online after an exploit drained about $3.8 million. The team has patched the vulnerability and pledged to fully compensate affected users.

What went wrong

According to the team, the problem was a bug in how the Omni deposit and withdrawal infrastructure worked together with the NEAR Intents smart contract. An attacker exploited it to take roughly $3.8 million.

NEAR Intents halted services while it investigated and fixed the issue.

The recovery so far

The contract vulnerability has been patched, and NEAR Intents and Near.com reopened soon after. Not everything came back at once, though:

Following the money

The stolen funds were reportedly sent to the KuCoin exchange and bridged to bitcoin. NEAR Intents says it's working with law enforcement and blockchain analytics firms to trace them, and plans to publish a post-mortem report explaining exactly what happened.

Market reaction

The news weighed on the NEAR token, which reportedly fell about 9% after the exploit came to light.

Why it matters

Cross-chain tools are some of the most useful, and most targeted, parts of crypto. Every time funds move between blockchains, more code and more systems are involved, and each one is a possible weak point.

The quick patch and the promise of full compensation are reassuring. But this is another reminder that bridges and cross-chain swaps carry extra risk.

What users should do

• Watch official NEAR Intents channels for details on how compensation will work.
• Be wary of anyone offering to help you "claim" your refund. Scammers often target users after an exploit.
• Check chain status before moving funds on any of the affected networks.

This article is for information only and is not financial advice.