NEAR Intents has issued a public 48-hour deadline for hackers to return funds stolen in an incident involving the protocol. The amount and asset types remain unconfirmed, as do the technical attack vector, targeted smart contract or component, attacker identity, fund movements, and any response to the ultimatum. The deadline reflects a recovery tactic increasingly used by DeFi (decentralized finance) protocols after exploits, seeking voluntary repayment before possible legal or on-chain escalation. The deadline’s expiry is the next key milestone. A subsequent protocol update, law-enforcement referral, bounty program or on-chain action would shape the recovery process. A formal post-mortem with on-chain evidence could establish the stolen amount, affected contracts and attacker wallet addresses. No return of funds had been confirmed at publication.