11 September. Blockstream publishes a plain text. The company will not pay a ransom to get back the bitcoin taken on Liquid. “Taking assets without authorization and withholding their return is a crime, not responsible disclosure.” This is not white-hat work, it writes. It is theft. The episode is not over.

We will not pay for the return of stolen property. We will not abandon our users. Return the bitcoin.— Blockstream, 11 September 2026

What happened, in plain words

Liquid is a network beside Bitcoin. Bitcoin is locked there to back tokens, L-BTC. In early September, about 4,000 bitcoin were taken from the federation vault, according to Blockstream’s status page. The chain was paused. A group presented itself as white hat. 3,400 bitcoin later came back. About 600 stayed on the other side. Bitcoin.com reported, on Wednesday, a demand: 10% “of your own money” as a bounty, or 15% loss for holders. We wrote it. Charles Guillemet was already calling it extortion.

What Blockstream refuses

The 11 September post shuts the door on the bounty. The company says it talked in good faith to get users’ money back. That is not acceptance of the acts, nor of the terms. It refuses the precedent: open software built for Bitcoin would not force its developers to pay a ransom larger than their stake. Bitcoin, it writes, is not haircut to pay a ransomer. If the money does not come back, it will go to police, venues, forensic shops. “Transactions do not disappear.” It still asks for the bitcoin to be returned, and for a real white-hat standard. Nothing is judged. Nothing is recovered in front of us.

On the status page, as of 10 September: blocks run again, without transactions, while they check. Moves back to Bitcoin stay cut. Rebuilding the BTC / L-BTC reserve is under way. This is not a full reopening.

What 11 September holds

  • Held. Blockstream post, 11 Sept. No ransom. Theft, not white hat, per the company. ~4,000 taken, 3,400 returned, ~600 still on the other side. The 10% demand already reported. The network not fully open. The case continues.
  • Not held. That the money is already back. That a court has ruled. That Liquid is Bitcoin. Advice to buy, sell, or leave funds there.

Sources: Blockstream on X, 11 Sept. 2026, status.blockstream.com, Bitcoin.com, our earlier notes. Presumption of innocence. Nothing here is advice.