ZKsync reclaims $5 million worth of hacked tokens following 10% bounty offer

ZK Nation, the decentralized community overseeing the ZKsync protocol, announced Wednesday that it has received stolen funds from the hack that occurred earlier this month after a 10% bounty was accepted by the attacker."The assets are now in custody of the Security Council, and the decision on what will be done with the assets will be made by governance," ZK Nation's X post said. "The final investigation report is being prepared and will be published once completed."On April 15, ZKsync's security team reported in a social media post that a hacker compromised an admin account that was in control of around $5 million worth of ZK, which were leftover, unclaimed tokens from the ZKsync airdrop. The team assured that all user funds are safe, were never compromised, and there is no ongoing risk of further hacks.Earlier this week, the ZKsync Security Council offered to give the hacker a 10% bounty if 90% of the stolen funds were returned within 72 hours. The council said it would escalate the case to a full criminal investigation if the offer was not accepted.Due to the increase in value since the exploit, on-chain data indicates that the returned assets are now worth approximately $5.66 million, exceeding the initial value of the stolen funds.ZKsync, created by Matter Labs, is a Layer 2 solution on Ethereum. The project launched its token airdrop last June with a total supply of 21 billion. At the time, web3 security platform Blockaid reported an increase in malicious decentralized applications targeting its users by impersonating the ZK brand.The price of ZK fell 3.5% in the past 24 hours to trade at $0.054, according to CoinMarketCap data.Disclaimer: The Block is an independent media outlet that delivers news, research, and data. As of November 2023, Foresight Ventures is a majority investor of The Block. Foresight Ventures invests in other companies in the crypto space. Crypto exchange Bitget is an anchor LP for Foresight Ventures. The Block continues to operate independently to deliver objective, impactful, and timely information about the crypto industry. Here are our current financial disclosures.© 2025 The Block. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.