Liquid Network, a Bitcoin-based payments and settlement network, revealed on Sunday that roughly $320 million had been withdrawn from its federation wallet in a hack. According to the company, “purported white-hat hackers” made off with around 4,000 of the 4,200 bitcoin the wallet held.
The funds left through SideSwap, a settlement platform with authorization to process withdrawals from the network. Liquid Network maintained that the key used in that process wasn’t compromised, but it has paused new transactions while it works out the full impact.
“Liquid wallets will be impacted, and we’re sorry for any inconvenience,” the company said in a post on X.
So far, the company hasn’t named the hackers, said whether it expects to recover the funds, or offered a timeline for restoring normal transactions.
Herald View: Labeling the attackers “purported white hat hackers” after $320 million leaves a federation wallet sounds more like a hedge than a diagnosis. Until Liquid Network confirms whether the funds actually come back, and explains how someone exploited SideSwap’s withdrawal permissions without touching the key itself, this looks less like a clean external hack and more like an authorized party abusing legitimate access.