Liquid White Hats Return $270M in Bitcoin as Network Prepares Restart

White-hat hackers have returned 3,400 BTC worth approximately $270 million to the Liquid Federation wallet, recovering roughly 85% of the funds withdrawn during a Sunday security incident. According to JAN3 CEO and former Blockstream executive Samson Mow, the return followed confirmation from Blockstream that the affected bridge nodes had been patched, though about 598 BTC remains outstanding as Blockstream continues engaging with the actors. The hackers initially withdrew approximately 4,000 BTC from the wallet's roughly 4,200 BTC reserves, prompting Blockstream to deploy updated software and pause operations while federation members prepared for a coordinated restart. Because Liquid issues L-BTC against Bitcoin held by its federation, the return of most of the withdrawn Bitcoin restores much of the backing that was removed during the breach.

In memecoin news, Hunter Biden is set to launch a token called LAPTOP on Wednesday, with 20% of its one-billion-token supply earmarked for holders of President Donald Trump's memecoin and others, according to The Wall Street Journal. The token derives its name from Biden's laptop, which became a major political controversy ahead of the 2020 presidential election. Biden and the project's co-founders will initially control 30% of the supply, with those tokens locked for six months and fully vested over two years, while another 20% is designated for charity and operating expenses. The project also includes a token-burning mechanism tied to political and market events, with up to 30% of the supply potentially destroyed if conditions such as a Democrat winning the 2028 presidential election, Bitcoin reaching a record high, or LAPTOP's fully diluted valuation surpassing TRUMP's are met.

Separately, Citi and DBS completed a weekend cross-border payment using tokenized deposits on SWIFT, demonstrating continued progress in integrating blockchain-based settlement into traditional financial infrastructure. The successful transaction highlights how major banks are exploring tokenization to modernize cross-border payments, an area historically dominated by correspondent banking networks. The development comes as financial institutions increasingly pilot digital asset solutions to reduce settlement times and operational costs in international transfers.