NEAR Intents Exploit Drains $3.8 Million as 11 Networks Face Restrictions

NEAR Intents suffered a $3.8 million security exploit on Oct. 1, forcing the cross-chain trading platform to halt services and restrict deposits and withdrawals across multiple networks. The incident also pushed the NEAR token lower as investors assessed whether the attack exposed a broader weakness in the NEAR ecosystem.

CoinDesk reported that NEAR Intents attributed the loss to a bug involving its Omni deposit and withdrawal infrastructure and its smart contract. The project said it patched the contract-side vulnerability and plans to reimburse affected users in full.

The incident affected NEAR Intents rather than the underlying NEAR Protocol blockchain, based on the information available so far. The distinction matters because NEAR Intents operates cross-chain infrastructure that connects assets across multiple networks.

What the exploit affected

NEAR Intents stopped services after detecting irregular activity involving infrastructure used to process withdrawals. Blockchain investigator ZachXBT said the stolen funds moved through KuCoin and were later converted or bridged into Bitcoin.

CoinDesk said the project reported the incident to law enforcement and is working with security and blockchain analytics firms to trace the funds.

The platform facilitates cross-chain swaps by allowing users to specify desired transactions while independent market makers compete to execute them. That architecture reduces the need for users to manage individual bridges and routes, but it also creates additional infrastructure dependencies.

Eleven networks remain restricted

Deposits and withdrawals remained unavailable across 11 networks while NEAR Intents continued its remediation work. The affected networks include:

• BNB Smart Chain
• Polygon
• TON
• Optimism
• Avalanche
• Stellar
• Monad
• X Layer
• ADI
• Scroll
• Plasma

The restrictions are separate from the broader NEAR blockchain. NEAR Intents said core services were expected to resume sooner, while the affected deposit and withdrawal rails required additional work.

NEAR fell sharply following the disclosure, adding market pressure after a strong September rally and the recent launch of the first U.S. spot NEAR ETF. However, the available reporting does not establish that the NEAR blockchain itself was compromised.

The project has promised a fuller technical report in the coming days. Until that report arrives, the key distinction is between the NEAR Protocol blockchain and the cross-chain infrastructure operated by NEAR Intents. The exploit demonstrates risks in the latter, but current reporting does not show a direct compromise of NEAR’s underlying blockchain.