The cross-chain protocol NEAR Intents reported that its SHIELD system successfully blocked over $50 million in attempted transfers associated with the recent Bitget hack. Attackers had previously stolen $387.5 million from the exchange. While the protocol prevented the majority of the attempted transfers, it managed to freeze $503,000 in funds, while $166,000 in suspected stolen assets passed through the system.
Alex Shevchenko, general manager of NEAR Intents, stated that the protocol will decline the 5 percent bounty offered by Bitget for freezing the funds and the additional 5 percent for their recovery. The company plans to return the frozen assets to Bitget through established legal procedures. This decision follows actions by Circle and Tether, which blacklisted a wallet linked to the attacker, freezing $318,013 in USDC and USDT.
The incident has highlighted a debate regarding the neutrality of permissionless protocols. While THORChain has maintained that it does not selectively censor transactions, NEAR Intents argues that developers can choose to prevent the laundering of stolen assets. Shevchenko emphasized that protecting property rights is essential for the future of financial systems, rejecting the idea that open access must facilitate the monetization of stolen property.
