Blockstream Refuses Ransom as Liquid Hackers Hold 600 BTC; Bitcoin Suisse Cuts Swiss Jobs

Blockstream has refused to pay a ransom to recover roughly 600 Bitcoin still held by the hackers who drained its Liquid Network sidechain on Sept. 6, rejecting demands for a 10% bounty from company funds. In a statement Friday, the Bitcoin infrastructure firm called the hack "theft, not responsible disclosure," and warned it would partner with law enforcement, exchanges, and forensic specialists to trace and reclaim the assets if they are not returned voluntarily. The hackers had warned via an onchain message — shared by Jan3 CEO Samson Mow — that Liquid holders would otherwise face a 15% loss on remaining funds tied to the roughly 4,000 BTC stolen earlier this month.

Separately, Bitcoin Suisse is preparing to relocate up to half of its Swiss workforce to lower-cost hubs in Bratislava and Vietnam, according to a Friday report from Swiss financial publication Finews. The move could affect up to 60 of the firm's 120 Swiss roles, primarily in back-office and administrative functions, as the Zug-based crypto financial services company expands internationally. CEO Andrej Majcen told Finews the restructuring was a strategic decision, not a response to market weakness, aimed at building a broader wealth and asset management business.

On the regulatory front, a revised version of the CLARITY Act would direct U.S. regulators to determine the compliance obligations of individuals controlling "non-decentralized" DeFi protocols. The language sharpens the legal line between protocol developers and operators, potentially subjecting front-end teams and governance keyholders to securities and money transmission rules. If enacted, the bill would reshape how DeFi projects structure themselves in the United States and clarify long-standing ambiguity over who bears regulatory responsibility in decentralized finance.

Bitcoin was trading near $77,354 at the time of publication, up 0.42% over 24 hours, while Solana climbed 2.66% to $102.13 and Monero jumped 4.53% to $533.67 amid renewed privacy-coin interest following the Liquid hack fallout.