Blockstream will not pay a ransom for roughly 600 BTC still controlled by attackers after a September exploit on the Liquid Network, a federated Bitcoin sidechain (parallel network governed by multiple operators). Purported white-hat hackers withdrew roughly 4,000 BTC, worth about $320 million, by exploiting a flaw in transaction-validation software. Most of the funds were returned after Liquid bridge nodes were patched, including 3,400 BTC in a single transaction, but the remaining bitcoin is worth about $47 million. Chainalysis said the flaw involved cached transaction-verification checks that allowed the attackers to create unbacked L-BTC and exchange it for real bitcoin. Blockstream described the withdrawal as theft rather than responsible disclosure, and said it would work with law enforcement, exchanges, service providers and forensic specialists to pursue every lawful avenue for recovery. The Liquid Network was paused after the incident, while the status of the outstanding funds remains unresolved.