NEAR Intents Identifies Attacker in $3.8M Exploit, Sets 48-Hour Deadline
NEAR Protocol (NEAR)
Editor:
Eugene Serbin
tronweekly.com reports that NEAR Intents has identified the individual responsible for a $3.8 million security breach and issued a 48-hour ultimatum for the return of stolen funds. General Manager Alex Shevchenko announced the discovery on Friday, October 2, providing specific wallet addresses for Bitcoin, BNB, and Solana where the attacker can deposit the assets. The protocol offered a final responsible-disclosure window before the deadline expires and pledged to fully reimburse all affected users.
The exploit stemmed from a vulnerability in the NEAR Intents Omni deposit and withdrawal mechanism, though the underlying NEAR Protocol blockchain itself remained secure. Blockchain investigator ZachXBT tracked the movement of assets through KuCoin before they were bridged into Bitcoin. On-chain research by Bitquery indicated that approximately 99% of the stolen funds could be tracked, with 34.69 BTC held in four wallets by October 1.
The attacker initially converted USDT into BNB and used various cross-chain exchanges, including THORChain, after Chainflip swaps were refused. NEAR Intents had previously assisted in blocking $50 million in funds during the Bitget security breach. The protocol is currently working with analytics firms to trace the remaining assets while promising full compensation. A post-mortem report detailing the vulnerability discovery is expected to be released soon.
How the market reacted
Whalio's own Binance spot order flow for NEAR, measured when this story was written up on 2 October 2026. Not the outlet's figures.
NEAR Protocol is trading at $4.81 with a 1-hour buy ratio of 55.6%, indicating short-term buying pressure, while the 4-hour buy ratio sits lower at 44.2%. Over the last 24 hours, the buy ratio is 45.1%, suggesting that buying interest has faded compared to the immediate hour. The 1-hour volume delta is positive at $1,009,944, showing net inflows, whereas the 4-hour delta is negative at -$2,432,085, reflecting recent outflows. The 24-hour volume delta is -$22,264,717, and the Cumulative Volume Delta (CVD) closed at -$17,038,592, confirming net selling over the day. Buyers were active for only 5 of the 24 hours, with spot volume reaching $230,791,674 across 925,995 trades.
The latest daily buy ratio of 51.5% sits at the 77th percentile of the last 322 days, against a median of 49.7% - stronger buying than most days.
Was that an ordinary day?
The same Binance spot measurements for NEAR, averaged over the days leading up to the story.
Over the preceding week, the average buy ratio was 50.3%, making today's 24-hour ratio of 45.1% slightly below the weekly norm by 5.1 points. Volume was 1.06 times the average, indicating a busier day than usual. Net buying occurred on 3 of the 7 days, with a total volume delta of -$10,873,797. The price increased by 4.7% over the 8-day period, contrasting with the recent net outflows. This represents an unusual day for the coin, as buying pressure dropped below the weekly average despite higher-than-average volume.