Near Intents, a platform that facilitates cryptocurrency swaps across multiple blockchains, paused its services Thursday after an attacker exploited a vulnerability and removed about $3.8 million in digital assets.
The company said the problem involved the way its Omni deposit and withdrawal infrastructure interacted with the Near Intents smart contract. Smart contracts are blockchain-based programs that automatically execute transactions and, in this case, help hold and move user funds. Near Intents said the contract-side vulnerability had been fixed and that it had reported the incident to law enforcement.
The platform also said it was working with blockchain analytics companies and other partners to trace the money and support recovery efforts. Near Intents promised that the missing funds would be compensated in full, although it has not disclosed whose assets were taken or explained how reimbursement would be carried out.
According to Decrypt, the exploit caused the NEAR token to fall 6.7% to $4.96. The incident came only two days after Near Intents blocked an attempted $50 million swap connected to the hacker behind the recent Bitget exchange theft.
What happened to Near Intents
Near Intents operates as an intermediary for trading between blockchain networks. Users specify the asset they want to receive and the asset they want to provide, while competing market makers—trading firms that quote prices—attempt to complete the transaction. The service has processed more than $30 billion in swaps across 35 blockchains.
The attack did not target a conventional exchange account. Instead, it took advantage of a flaw in the connection between the Omni layer, which handles deposits and withdrawals, and the main Near Intents smart contract. Near Intents stopped services after detecting the incident.
Core services were expected to resume roughly an hour after the announcement, while deposits and withdrawals on 11 networks remained unavailable for about 12 additional hours as fixes to the Omni system were completed. The affected networks included BNB Chain, Polygon and Optimism.
Near Intents said it would release a detailed incident report in the following days. That report is expected to provide more information about the vulnerability, the assets involved and the steps taken to prevent a repeat.
Connection to the Bitget hack remains unclear
The attack followed Near Intents’ decision to reject a large swap attempt linked to the Bitget hacker. The hacker is accused of stealing approximately $387.5 million from the cryptocurrency exchange the previous week and then trying to move $50 million through Near Intents.
Bitget chief executive Gracy Chen and blockchain analytics firm Elliptic separately identified North Korea as the likely actor behind the Bitget theft, based on what they described as signs associated with previous attacks. That attribution has not been confirmed.
Near Intents has not said that the $3.8 million exploit was connected to the Bitget incident. The two events occurred close together, but their relationship remained unknown at the time of the report.
On-chain investigator ZachXBT said the funds taken in the Near Intents attack were sent to KuCoin and then bridged to bitcoin. Moving tokens between blockchains through bridges or other intermediary infrastructure can create additional points of exposure because assets and liquidity must be coordinated across separate networks.
Why the incident matters
Cross-chain services are designed to make fragmented blockchain networks easier to use, but they also concentrate assets and transaction activity in the software that links those networks. That concentration can make deposit, withdrawal and bridging systems attractive targets for attackers. The 2022 Harmony bridge hack, in which about $100 million disappeared, is an earlier example cited in the report.
The incident also highlighted the risks faced by users whose digital assets are held in crypto protocols rather than traditional bank accounts. Cryptocurrency balances generally do not come with bank-style deposit insurance, making Near Intents’ full-compensation pledge particularly significant for affected users.
The exploit arrived soon after the launch of Bitwise’s Near ETF, a fund that gives investors exposure to the NEAR token through a conventional brokerage account without requiring them to use a crypto wallet. Bitwise filed paperwork for the fund in April 2025, when NEAR traded at $2.61. The source reported that the token had nearly doubled from that level before the latest decline, while the ETF’s shares also fell more than 7% after the incident.
Current market picture
Moneyiar market data recorded on October 3, 2026, at about 09:34 +03:30 showed NEAR Protocol at $4.6518276848, down 5.64% over 24 hours and 4.04% over seven days. Other tracked assets were also mixed to lower:
- Chainlink (LINK): $13.9445082123, down 3.19% in 24 hours and 0.37% over seven days.
- Cronos (CRO): $0.0660598291, down 4.07% in 24 hours but up 1.18% over seven days.
- Compound (COMP): $24.6310268043, up 0.47% in 24 hours and 3.77% over seven days.
These figures are Moneyiar data at the stated time and reflect a later market snapshot than the initial price movement reported after the exploit.
