A cryptocurrency platform that reported roughly $387.5 million stolen from hot wallets after detecting abnormal transfers on Sept. 25 plans to begin restoring withdrawals on Sept. 28, starting with Bitcoin. The company said its user protection fund had been increased to more than $464 million and that its cold wallets and most customer assets were unaffected.
The phased reopening places the immediate focus on whether the platform can restore normal operations without further disruption. Hot wallets remain connected to the internet to process deposits and withdrawals, making them useful for day-to-day liquidity but more exposed to attacks than offline cold storage. The scale of the reported theft makes the protection fund central to the platform’s effort to reassure users that withdrawal requests can be met.
Bitcoin-network withdrawals are scheduled to reopen at 8:00 UTC on Sept. 28. Withdrawals for Ethereum and assets on BSC, Arbitrum, Base and Optimism are due to follow at 8:00 UTC on Sept. 29.
USDT withdrawals across Ethereum, BSC, Solana and Tron are planned for 8:00 UTC on Sept. 30. The company said remaining token withdrawals, fiat withdrawals and peer-to-peer services would reopen at 8:00 UTC on Oct. 2.
Protection fund exceeds reported loss
The company’s stated protection reserve exceeds the reported $387.5 million loss by about $76.5 million. That buffer could help cover shortfalls caused by the theft, although the practical test will come as withdrawals resume across networks with different confirmation times, liquidity conditions and operational requirements.
The incident also adds to scrutiny of the amount exchanges retain in internet-connected wallets. A platform can use cold storage for the bulk of its holdings while holding a smaller operational balance in hot wallets, but a compromised withdrawal system or private key can make that balance vulnerable within minutes.
Users moving funds after the reopening will need to verify network selection carefully. Assets such as USDT are issued across several chains, and sending a token through an unsupported network can create a separate recovery problem even when the exchange’s withdrawal system is working normally.
Bitwise files for a NEAR Protocol ETF
In the United States, Bitwise submitted an application to list a NEAR Protocol exchange-traded fund on NYSE Arca under the ticker NRR. The filing seeks to give market participants exposure to NEAR, the native token of the NEAR Protocol network, through a conventional listed fund.
The application extends the effort to package individual crypto assets for traditional brokerage accounts beyond the largest tokens. Approval is far from automatic, and the filing process can involve amendments, regulatory questions and a lengthy review period. Yet an NYSE Arca listing proposal gives NEAR a clearer route into the ETF framework than it previously had.
NEAR was among the stronger large-cap crypto assets in the supplied 24-hour market data, rising 4.94%. That move occurred alongside larger gains in SUI, which rose 9.43%, and QNT, which was listed up 72.67%. Short-term price moves do not establish a link to an ETF filing, particularly in a market where liquidity can vary sharply between tokens.
SEC addresses token buybacks and network upgrades
The Securities and Exchange Commission’s Division of Corporation Finance updated its crypto-asset FAQ to address how securities laws may apply to token buybacks, network upgrades and promotional activity. The agency said those actions do not automatically turn a crypto asset into a security.
The FAQ also preserved the fact-specific nature of the analysis. A network without meaningful functionality, or a token buyback promoted chiefly as a source of returns, may present a different securities-law assessment than a functioning network using tokens for an operational purpose.
That distinction gives token issuers and decentralized finance teams more guidance on conduct that may draw regulatory attention, without creating a blanket exemption for utility tokens. Buybacks have become particularly sensitive because they can resemble equity-market programs when framed as a way to support token value.
Tokenized stocks arrive as Aave collateral
Aave V4 launched an Equities Hub on Base that allows eligible non-U.S. users to borrow USDC against seven tokenized U.S. stocks: Apple, Amazon, Alphabet, Meta, Microsoft, Nvidia and Tesla. Chainlink provides the on-chain price feeds for the collateral.
According to Aave’s published parameters, the seven stocks share a collateral cap of about $29 million. The USDC supply cap is set at $32 million, while borrowing is capped at $21 million. Collateral factors range from 65% to 79%, meaning borrowers must provide more tokenized stock value than the USDC they borrow.
The design connects tokenized equity exposure with on-chain lending while limiting the initial size of the market. It also introduces risks familiar to both securities and DeFi users: a falling stock price can reduce collateral value, and borrowers whose positions breach required thresholds may face liquidation.
Tax reporting frictions emerge under 1099-DA rules
The first U.S. tax season using 1099-DA reporting has exposed practical problems with missing transaction information and cost-basis reconciliation. In an August survey of 1,000 U.S. crypto holders by Awaken Tax, 21% of respondents who had filed or planned to extend said they were still waiting for required tax information.
About 20% said their 1099-DA information was incomplete or that they were uncertain about its accuracy, according to Awaken Tax. Cost basis is the original value used to calculate taxable gains or losses, and incomplete records can become especially difficult to reconcile when assets have moved between wallets, protocols and platforms.
Separately, Hyperliquid said its next network upgrade would reduce the maximum funding rate on its perpetual futures platform to 0.5% per hour from 4% per hour. Yan, a Hyperliquid representative, said on Discord that the existing cap is rarely reached. Funding payments are exchanged between long and short traders to keep perpetual contracts near spot prices; a lower ceiling would limit the most extreme payment rates during market dislocations.
The withdrawal timetable remains the near-term operational event with the broadest consequences. Bitcoin withdrawals are due first, followed by major smart-contract networks, stablecoin rails and finally fiat services—an order that will show whether the platform can convert its stated reserve backing into normal access for users.
Worried about exchange security after major hacks? Learn how cold vs hot wallets protect your crypto.
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