The security breach reportedly stemmed from a vulnerability involving the interaction between NEAR Intents’ smart contracts and Omni’s deposit and withdrawal infrastructure. The flaw allowed unauthorized outflows from a BNB Chain hot wallet associated with the platform, with onchain investigators identifying more than $3.8 million in suspected stolen assets.
NEAR Intents subsequently patched the affected contract vulnerability and moved to contain the incident. Its live status page continues to display an ongoing incident, while reports indicate that the disruption extends beyond the initial BNB Chain wallet and affects multiple EVM networks.
The incident does not currently establish that the underlying NEAR blockchain itself was compromised. Available reporting instead points toward infrastructure connecting cross-chain deposits, withdrawals and smart contracts. The precise component responsible for the broader disruption remains under investigation.
$3.8 Million in Crypto Moves Through Cross-Chain Infrastructure
Blockchain investigator ZachXBT reported irregular transactions from the affected BNB Chain wallet, with the stolen assets subsequently moved toward KuCoin and then bridged into Bitcoin. NEAR Intents has also said it is working with law enforcement and blockchain analytics firms to trace the funds.
NEAR Intents has pledged to fully reimburse affected users, regardless of whether the stolen cryptocurrency can ultimately be recovered. The team also plans to publish a detailed post-mortem report explaining the exploit and its response.
Reports say deposits and withdrawals across 11 networks were temporarily affected, including BNB Smart Chain, Polygon, TON, Optimism, Avalanche, Stellar, Monad, LayerX, Adi, Scroll and Plasma. NEAR Intents expected its core operations to resume sooner, while maintaining the wider deposit and withdrawal suspension for approximately 12 hours as security checks continued.
The incident highlights the security challenges facing cross chain crypto infrastructure, where a vulnerability in a bridge, custody layer, signing system or withdrawal mechanism can potentially affect assets moving across several blockchain networks.
NEAR Intents Security Response and Investigation
The exploit comes only days after NEAR Intents highlighted its security infrastructure after claiming that its SHIELD system blocked more than $50 million in attempted transfers linked to the Bitget hack. The platform said approximately $503,000 was frozen while around $166,000 passed through its system.
That earlier incident involved detecting suspicious funds moving through cross chain infrastructure, while the latest event concerns unauthorized outflows from infrastructure associated with NEAR Intents. The two incidents demonstrate different security risks: transaction screening can help identify suspicious flows, but it does not necessarily prevent vulnerabilities in the underlying infrastructure from being exploited.
The immediate investigation will focus on determining exactly how the attacker gained access, whether the vulnerability affected additional EVM networks, the total value of assets involved and whether any shared bridge or signing infrastructure requires further security changes. Until the post mortem is released, the full technical scope of the incident remains unconfirmed.
For users, NEAR Intents’ temporary withdrawal restrictions are designed to limit further exposure while the investigation continues. The project’s reimbursement commitment also means the financial impact on affected users may ultimately differ from the amount recovered from the attacker.
