Summary
NEAR Intents has blocked approximately $50 million in swap attempts by the Bitget exchange hacker using NEAR Protocol’s governance mechanisms to freeze transactions identified as part of the Bitget theft laundering operation. THORChain, also used as a laundering route, declined to take action. Combined with prior interdictions, approximately $86 million of the Bitget theft proceeds have now been intercepted or blocked.
Timeline
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| Sep 29, 2026 | NEAR Intents blocks $50M in Bitget hacker swap attempts via governance; THORChain refuses action; $86M total intercepted |
What Changed
The NEAR Intents governance action demonstrates that decentralized protocol governance can be used as an active interdiction tool against known theft proceeds, in contrast to THORChain’s decision not to act. The governance-based interdiction approach requires a protocol with governance mechanisms capable of freezing specific transactions, but where available it represents a meaningful tool for limiting large-scale cryptocurrency theft laundering. The divergent responses of NEAR Intents and THORChain to the same laundering activity highlights the inconsistency of crypto infrastructure responses to Lazarus Group operations.
Domain Intelligence
near.org — 61.87
near.org scores in the low-trust range at 61.87. NEAR Protocol is the blockchain whose governance mechanisms were used to block the swap attempts.