NEAR Intents Blocked $50M Tied to Bitget Hackers

NEAR Intents said it blocked more than $50 million in attempted transfers linked to the Bitget hack. 

Attackers stole $387.5 million from Bitget on Thursday. A significant portion of these funds moved across chains to Ethereum, according to Alex Shevchenko, general manager of NEAR Intents, a protocol that lets users swap crypto assets across blockchains. 

Shevchenko said its SHIELD system detected and blocked more than $50 million in attempted transfers, which subsequently went to other providers. It managed to freeze $503,000 in funds during execution, while around $166,000 in suspected stolen funds passed through.

The post came as THORChain faced calls to block addresses linked to the attack, underscoring a tension that permissionless crypto protocols face — offering open access while seeking to curb illicit activity. 

Shevchenko argued that permissionless systems do not necessarily have to be neutral. “The people who build…