Hack history / 2026 / Hack or exploit
Liquid Network
Hack or exploit on Sep 6, 2026 · Unbacked Cross-Chain Mint
SOURCES AGREE ON DATE AND LOSS · 4 SOURCES
Lost
$320M
dollars at the time
Returned
$272M
85% of the loss, as a source states it
Rank
#15
among thefts by dollars lost
What happened
An actor exploited a software vulnerability in Elements, the software underlying Liquid, to create approximately 4,000 L-BTC without corresponding BTC backing. The unbacked L-BTC was transferred to SideSwap’s peg-out service, where it was indistinguishable from legitimately backed L-BTC. SideSwap processed a valid peg-out and burned the L-BTC, causing the Liquid Federation to release approximately 3,996 BTC from its Bitcoin reserves. Liquid and SideSwap state that SideSwap’s Peg-out Authorization Key and the federation’s other keys were not compromised
Details
- Date
- Sep 6, 2026
- Kind
- Hack or exploit
- Method
- Unbacked Cross-Chain Mint
- How in
- Bridge and cross-chain
- Target
- Chain
- Chains
- Liquid, Bitcoin
After the theft
- Returned by the attacker
- yes, amount not stated
“The actor, claiming to be a white hat, returned 3,400 BTC on September 7 and still holds about 598.5 BTC ($47,000,000).” (SlowMist Hacked) - Recovered or frozen
- $272M
“$320.0M taken, $48.0M after recovery or freezing” (Web3 Is Going Great)
Related incidents
ether.fi Liquid 2026 · Hack or exploit · $43K
Liquid Network 2021 · Hack or exploit · undisclosed
Liquid Global 2021 · Hack or exploit · $91.3M
Liquid 2020 · Hack or exploit · undisclosed
Secret Network 2026 · Hack or exploit · $4.7M
Liquid Network 2021 · Hack or exploit · undisclosed
Liquid Global 2021 · Hack or exploit · $91.3M
Liquid 2020 · Hack or exploit · undisclosed
Secret Network 2026 · Hack or exploit · $4.7M
Cite this page
SwanBluechip, "Liquid Network hack, Sep 6, 2026: $320M lost", Crypto hack history, https://swan-hack-tracker.pages.dev/history/i/ht379095202e/ (data as of 2026-10-31).