$3.8 million recovered from attackers: Why NEAR prices rose 7.8%

Disclaimer: Content does not constitute investment advice. Trading involves risks—please invest with caution!

NEAR Intentions was hacked and fully recovered, and the price of the NEAR protocol rose accordingly.

On October 1, a hacker stole approximately $3.8 million from the cross-chain service NEAR Intentions. However, the hacker has refunded all the funds. Since then, the price of NEAR Protocol has rebounded significantly: as of Tuesday morning trading, October 6, 2026, its price was US$5.23, a one-day increase of 7.8%, and a weekly increase of 14.4%.(Data comes from CoinGecko). This made NEAR the only currency among the top 25 crypto assets that fluctuated more than 5% in a single day except stablecoins on the day.

Here are two recorded positive factors that are consistent with the price increase, both before this price surge: one is the full return of stolen funds, and the other is the launch of the first U.S. NEAR spot ETF on September 29. It is not yet possible to quantify the respective contribution of these two to prices. But what is clear is that the $3.8 million risk hanging on the token over the past week has been completely eliminated.

Omni vulnerability in NEAR Intention: $3.8 million was stolen through BNB Chain

The October 1 incident did not affect the NEAR blockchain itself, but rather affected a service running on it. The area affected is Omni infrastructure in NEAR Intention, which is responsible for deposits and withdrawals. The vulnerability lies in the way the infrastructure communicates with the smart contract. Capital outflows are limited to the BNB Chain range, and most of the stolen assets are stablecoins USDT.

Technical principles of NEAR intentions

NEAR Intentions is a service used to exchange cryptographic assets between network boundaries. "Intent" is a statement of purpose: users define what they ultimately want to achieve, and the service provider network finds a path to achieve this goal. Unlike traditional bridges, classic bridges lock in tokens on one side and reissue them on the other, which is not true for NEAR Intention. Detailed technical instructions can be found in the project's technical documentation.

This attack targeted the settlement layer rather than the protocol itself, which is positive. Any user who keeps NEAR in his personal wallet and has never used redemption services will not be affected. What was damaged were funds stored in the Omni clearing system. The project team promises to fully compensate affected users.

The security layer of the service detected abnormal access, and NEAR Intentions suspended operations for about an hour. During this period, vulnerabilities on the contract side were fixed. Core functions were then restored, but some cross-chain functions remained closed during maintenance. We detailed the interruption in withdrawals and the reasons for it in our October 1 article.

48-hour ultimatum: How the hacker's identity was locked

According to the team, they identified the identity of the behind-the-scenes operator within 24 hours after the funds flowed out. Subsequently, the team set a 48-hour refund period and announced the address to receive the funds. This is standard practice in the industry: use threats of prosecution as backing it up while giving the other party a way out.

对方选择了这条退路。在最后通牒发出几小时后，对方表示愿意沟通，并在规定的时间内全额归还了资金。随后，团队结束了调查。

需要指出的是，在最后通牒后归还不等于证明这种策略可靠。近年来许多案例中，资金并未追回。在NEAR Intents的案例中，几个因素共同作用使得资金得以追回：追踪线索新鲜、相对于被发现的风险而言金额较小，以及资金流出仅限于单一链。

漏洞赏金而非恶意利用：Shevchenko与Polosukhin的观点

NEAR Intents总经理兼Aurora Labs联合创始人Alex Shevchenko公开确认了资金返还，并借此呼吁：“来自380万美元NEAR Intents黑客攻击的资金已全额退回。我们停止调查。请使用漏洞赏金机制，而不是破坏服务。”

NEAR Protocol联合创始人Illia Polosukhin也表达了相同观点：“对于寻求漏洞的安全研究人员，我们鼓励你们使用漏洞赏金机制。设立它的理由正是为此。”漏洞赏金计划是指运营商公布的奖励，旨在鼓励报告漏洞而非利用漏洞。

对于投资者而言，这些告诫的重要性不及事实本身：这两份声明均由具名人士以其职务身份发布。在此类规模的事件中，匿名来源的消息通常流传甚广。而在这里，涉及金额、原因和结果都有具体的责任人。

Bitwise NRR ETF: First day net inflow of US$35.5 million

The second known factor driving demand is less than a week old. On September 29, the first U.S. NEAR spot ETF began trading. It was issued by Bitwise and listed on NYSE Arca with the code NRR. The management fee is 0.75% per year. Bitwise said it will pledge a large amount of tokens it holds.

The issuer released its own data for the first trading day: assets under management of US$36 million, net inflow of US$35.5 million, and trading volume of US$15.1 million. This purchased approximately 7.2 million NEAR tokens, accounting for approximately 0.55% of the circulation supply. The price rose 10.2% to $5.38 on the day of launch.

Spot ETFs actually buy underlying assets. Therefore, every inflow means a purchase in the market, thereby reducing the circulation supply. For a token with a circulation of approximately 1.31 billion coins, the proportion of 0.55% in a single day cannot be ignored. The reverse is true: outflow means selling.

Detailed explanation of NEAR price trend: intraday range of US$4.87 to US$5.35

The current price range is US$4.87 to US$5.35. Within 24 hours, the difference between high and low points was nearly 10%. A transaction volume of approximately US$961 million corresponds to a market value of approximately US$6.85 billion, placing NEAR 21st.

For reference, NEAR's historical high of US$20.44 appeared on January 16, 2022. Judging from the current level, there is still a gap of about 290% from the historical high. Anyone who sees the word "all-time high" in a forecast should take note of this date because it is old news four years ago.

The comparison with the overall market makes this trend even more interesting. On the same morning, Bitcoin and Ethereum were almost flat. Therefore, NEAR's rise does not stem from general market conditions, but is driven by its own news.

Buying NEAR in Europe: MiCA authorizes trading pairs with euros

If you want to buy NEAR in Germany, two practical issues determine the cost. The first is the issue of authorization: With the full entry into force of EU regulation MiCA, crypto service providers need to obtain permission from European regulators, which requires a BaFin license in Germany. Which companies hold the license and its charging standards can refer to our Cryptocurrency Exchange Comparison Guide.

The second is the transaction pair issue. If NEAR has a euro trading pair, you only need to pay the transaction fee once. If the path passes through U.S. dollars or stablecoins, additional conversion fees and spreads will arise. For currencies with intraday fluctuations of up to 10%, the time lost between steps will also have an impact.

The third point involves the theme of this article: Although cross-chain services are convenient, they add a level where mistakes can be made. If you just want to buy and hold NEAR, you don't need them.

Custody options after cross-chain vulnerability: own key or exchange account

This incident is a lesson about where crypto assets are stored. There are three situations to distinguish between: in an exchange, assets are held in the name of the provider; in your personal wallet, you are responsible for it; and in a settlement service such as the Omni Layer, assets are temporarily in contract status during the redemption process. The third situation has the shortest life cycle and the most easily ignored.

In practice, this means that the balance involved in the redemption process is not part of your position, but is part of the running process. Anyone who regularly conducts cross-border exchanges should keep a small amount and not let funds sit idle. For assets you intend to hold for a long time, self-custody is a clearer choice; refer to the Hardware Wallet Comparison Guide for suitable device types.

Holding period and taxation: December 31, 2026 is the cut-off point

The one-day increase of 7.8% immediately triggered tax issues. In Germany, crypto assets currently apply to the one-year holding period stipulated in Article 23 of the Income Tax Law: if the sale period exceeds twelve months, income from private disposal is exempt. If sold before then, if the exemption threshold is exceeded, it will be included in taxable income.

This framework is facing changes. The draft proposed by the Federal Ministry of Finance stipulates that a 25% withholding tax will be levied regardless of the duration of the holding period. Under the current draft, the rule only applies to crypto assets acquired after December 31, 2026; anyone purchasing on or before this date will still retain the old rules. The Cabinet is scheduled to review the draft on October 14, 2026. We have disassembled the draft and its timetable in a separate article.

What this means to you depends on your time horizon, not the fluctuations of the day. The draft is not a law and has not yet been formally considered by the Bundestag. Still, if you want to plan around a deadline, you should record the acquisition date for each purchase, as this date will become decisive evidence under the deadline rule.

Pledge and 0.75% fee: The difference between an ETF and holding its own tokens

Bitwise intends to pledge a considerable number of tokens in an ETF. Staking refers to the pledge of tokens in the network to help protect the security of the blockchain and thereby receive rewards. For the fund, this is income and a 0.75% management fee is deducted.

If you own NEAR, you can also pledge it, but you will have to bear the work and risks alone: the selection of the verification node, the lock-in period at the time of withdrawal, and the tax treatment of income (the draft clearly wants to classify it as investment income). For details of the terms provided by each platform, please refer to the Pledge Provider Comparison Guide.

The difference is not just yields. With an ETF, you buy securities in a brokerage account without holding a private key. With your own token, you hold the private key and assume custody responsibility.