NEAR Intents recovers $3.8 million from exploit and closes its investigation

NEAR Intents got its money back. The suspected entity behind an exploit that drained approximately $3.8 million in USDT from the cross-chain trading and settlement protocol has reportedly returned the full amount. The protocol wrapped up its investigation on October 4. How the exploit unfolded Between September 30 and October 1, 2026, a critical bug in the protocol’s smart contracts gave an attacker an opening. The attacker used it to pull USDT out of a treasury contract on BNB Chain. The drain did not happen in one shot. It came through multiple withdrawals spread over the two days, adding up to approximately $3.87 million USDT. The protocol’s SHIELD AI security layer flagged the activity. NEAR Intents then paused its services and patched the vulnerability within an hour. The 48-hour ultimatum General Manager Alex Shevchenko said the team had identified the suspected exploiter. On October 2, Shevchenko issued a 48-hour deadline for the funds to be returned. He also published specific return addresses across BTC, EVM and Solana. The suspected entity reportedly returned the full $3.8 million, and NEAR Intents closed its investigation on October 4. Separately, NEAR Intents committed ...