Cross-chain trading platform NEAR Intents halted services on Thursday, October 1, following a security exploit that caused approximately $3.8 million in losses. The team said it had patched the smart contract vulnerability and would reimburse all affected funds.
According to the initial statement, the exploit stemmed from a bug in how the Omni deposit and withdrawal infrastructure interacted with the NEAR Intents smart contract. Following the incident, the platform temporarily restricted deposits and withdrawals across several blockchains.
NEAR Intents pledges to cover all losses
The NEAR Intents team said it suspended services as a precaution after detecting the security incident. A preliminary investigation estimated total losses at approximately $3.8 million.
The team said it had patched the contract-side vulnerability and would fully reimburse affected users. However, its initial statement did not provide details about the repayment timeline or process.
Statements about the incident’s scope point to NEAR Intents’ cross-chain infrastructure. The information disclosed does not indicate a security breach of the underlying NEAR Protocol blockchain.
This distinction matters when assessing how different services within the same ecosystem were affected. Current findings focus on the interaction between the Omni infrastructure and the trading contract.
Deposits and withdrawals affected across 11 blockchains
In its initial announcement, the platform said it aimed to restore core services on NEAR Intents and Near.com within approximately one hour. However, it anticipated a longer disruption to deposits and withdrawals on certain networks.
The statement indicated that these transactions could remain unavailable across 11 blockchains for roughly another 12 hours. That timeframe reflects the team’s initial estimate and does not confirm that services have resumed.
The restrictions cover BNB Smart Chain, Polygon, TON, Optimism, Avalanche and Stellar. Monad, X Layer, ADI, Scroll and Plasma are also among the affected networks.
Restoring the platform’s core trading services therefore does not mean deposits and withdrawals will resume simultaneously across every network. The team outlined a separate schedule for completing fixes to those channels.
ZachXBT reports funds moved to KuCoin and Bitcoin
Blockchain investigator ZachXBT said he identified irregular outflows from a BNB Chain hot wallet linked to NEAR Intents. Hot wallets remain connected to the internet and support platforms’ transfer needs.
According to the investigator, the stolen assets were subsequently sent to cryptocurrency exchange KuCoin and bridged to Bitcoin. These movements form part of the investigation into the funds’ path following the exploit.
NEAR Intents said it had reported the incident to law enforcement. The team added that it was working with security companies and blockchain analytics platforms to trace the assets and would publish a detailed incident report in the coming days.
NEAR falls as attention turns to service restoration
The NEAR token was trading lower on the day as reports of the security incident emerged. Market data showed the token down approximately 6.7%, trading near $4.94.
The exploit occurred two days after Bitwise launched its NEAR exchange-traded fund. Following the arrival of the new investment product, attention shifted to a security issue affecting the ecosystem’s cross-chain infrastructure.
NEAR Intents aims to simplify transactions between different blockchains. Users specify the transaction they want, while independent market makers known as “solvers” compete to execute it.
According to figures published on its website, NEAR Intents has processed more than $30 billion in total volume across 35 blockchains. The team’s forthcoming incident report is expected to explain how the vulnerability was exploited and what changes have been made to prevent similar attacks.
