NEAR Intents Blocked $50M Linked to Bitget Hackers
NEAR's cross-chain protocol intercepted $50M in stolen funds tied to Bitget hackers, positioning itself as a compliance-minded alternative to THORChain.
NEAR Intents just drew a hard line in the sand. The cross-chain protocol announced it blocked roughly $50 million in funds connected to hackers who targeted Bitget, making it one of the more aggressive public stances any DeFi infrastructure player has taken on stolen-fund routing.
This isn't just a one-off. NEAR Intents says actively preventing stolen assets from being laundered through its system is a core operational posture — not an exception to the rule. That's a meaningful commitment in a space where most protocols wave their hands at immutability and call it a day.
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The announcement lands as a direct contrast to THORChain, which has publicly maintained that it does not selectively censor transactions. THORChain has faced mounting pressure over its role in moving funds tied to high-profile exploits, but it has held its neutral-protocol line. NEAR Intents is betting traders and institutions want a different answer.
For retail traders, the subtext here matters. As regulators globally tighten the screws on crypto compliance, the protocols you route through are carrying more legal and reputational risk than ever. Choosing infrastructure that actively screens for blacklisted funds could matter for your own exposure down the road — not just the protocol's.
The $50M figure is significant enough to signal that NEAR Intents isn't playing defense quietly. This is a marketing moment as much as a security one, and it puts other cross-chain protocols on notice that compliance-forward positioning is becoming a competitive differentiator. Continue reading at Cointelegraph.
