Bitcoin News

Story: Blockstream Stands Firm Against Ransom as 598 Bitcoin Remains with Liquid Network Hackers

By Pankaj K

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What Happened to the Liquid Network. The Liquid Network is a Bitcoin sidechain, built to handle faster transactions and add a layer of…

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The Recovery Push and What Comes Next. Blockstream's plan, as far as it's been made public, is pretty straightforward: coordinate with…

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Blockstream won't budge. The Bitcoin infrastructure company publicly rejected a ransom demand from hackers who still hold 598 BTC taken from the Liquid Network — and it's now…

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The attack started September 6. Self-proclaimed white-hat hackers pulled roughly 4,000 Bitcoin out of the Liquid Network's federation wallet — about $320 million at the time.

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The hackers didn't just ask nicely, either. They threatened that Liquid Network holders would face a 15% loss if their demands weren't met.

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After the hack, Liquid paused operations entirely. Block production came back online Thursday, which sounds like progress. But it's not really back to normal.

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That's a significant operational hole for a network that exists specifically to move Bitcoin fast.

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Read also: Liquid Network Struggles as $320M Exploit Leaves 598 BTC Still Missing

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Blockstream hasn't said much publicly beyond its core position — no ransom, working with authorities, urging the hackers to return the funds voluntarily.

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Blockstream's plan, as far as it's been made public, is pretty straightforward: coordinate with law enforcement, work with exchanges to flag and freeze any movement of the 598…

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The company seems to be betting that refusing to pay keeps the door open for a clean legal recovery.

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And there's probably a reputational calculation here too. Blockstream built its name on Bitcoin infrastructure. The Liquid Network is one of its flagship products.

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Read also: Malone Lam Reveals Details of $245 Million Bitcoin Heist Involving International Network

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The emergency software patches that allowed block production to resume came fast, which suggests Blockstream's technical team had a handle on the vulnerability quickly once it…

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What's known: 3,400 BTC recovered, 598 BTC outstanding, transactions still frozen, block production running empty, and Blockstream working with authorities to chase down whoever…

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