Liquid Recovers Majority of Stolen BTC Amid Network Freeze
- Liquid recovered 3,400 BTC worth $268 million, while actors retained approximately 598.5 BTC.
- Blockstream patched bridge nodes after an Elements bug led to the draining of nearly 4,000 BTC.
- The incident began on Sept. 6 when about 4,000 BTC, valued at $320 million, left the Liquid Federation wallet.
- Liquid remains paused as operators work to restore the network’s L-BTC backing to a full reserve.
- No federation keys were compromised during the incident.
The recovery of a significant portion of stolen BTC marks a turning point in Liquid’s technical crisis that started with an Elements bug allowing unbacked L-BTC creation. The network freeze continues as Liquid ensures L-BTC is backed one-to-one and bridge nodes are secure.
The return of 3,400 BTC alleviates some pressure on Liquid’s reserves, but with 598.5 BTC still under actor control and ongoing network pauses, challenges remain before normal operations can resume.
