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NEAR Intents confirmed on October 1 that its cross-chain infrastructure suffered a $3.8 million exploit, triggering an immediate selloff in the NEAR token and raising fresh concerns about security risks in chain abstraction technology.
Following the official disclosure, NEAR dropped roughly 7.5% within minutes to a local low of $4.76 before recovering slightly to around $4.84.
The breach comes shortly after NEAR Intents highlighted the effectiveness of its SHIELD security system, which reportedly blocked $50 million in transactions linked to an attempted laundering operation following the Bitget exchange hack. However, those external protections could not prevent a vulnerability involving an internal integration.
According to the NEAR Intents team, the exploit stemmed from a flaw in the interaction between its smart contract and Omni’s custody architecture. Attackers used the vulnerability to execute unauthorized withdrawals from a hot wallet on BNB Chain before moving the stolen assets to KuCoin and converting them into Bitcoin through cross-chain bridges.
NEAR Intents has emerged as a prominent chain abstraction protocol, processing more than $30 billion in trading volume. Its technology allows users and AI agents to specify desired transactions while the underlying infrastructure manages bridges, networks, gas fees and other technical steps automatically.
Following the attack, the team said the smart-contract vulnerability had been patched and that its main website and core services would resume operations. Deposits and withdrawals involving 11 blockchains, including Polygon, TON, Optimism, Avalanche and Scroll, were temporarily suspended while Omni implemented additional fixes.
NEAR Intents also pledged to reimburse affected users fully from its treasury. Law enforcement agencies and blockchain analysts have been brought into the investigation to help trace the stolen Bitcoin.
The incident highlights a significant challenge for cross-chain and intent-based protocols. While automated infrastructure can simplify Web3 transactions for users and AI agents, integrations with bridges and custody systems can introduce vulnerabilities that attackers may exploit, increasing pressure on developers to strengthen security across every component of the transaction process.
