Blockstream refuses to pay bug bounty, vows to recover 598.5 BTC via court
- —3,996 BTC (~$320 million) was withdrawn from Liquid in 36 minutes on September 6
- —About 3,400 BTC was returned, while 598.5 BTC (~$47 million) was lost
- —The hacker demanded 10% as a bug bounty via OP_RETURN
- —Blockstream refused to pay and brought in law enforcement and exchanges
Why it matters: The case shows that even a federated bitcoin sidechain must rely on the law, not code, to recover stolen funds.
Source: CoinGeek