Liquid

Blockstream’s technical security assessment of the September 6 Liquid incident is now published on the Liquid blog. It covers the exploit’s root cause and mechanics, the incident timeline, and the engineering and security changes being made in response.

The Federation continues to work closely with Blockstream and its members through the staged recovery, as well as on the security improvements and governance work following the incident. We encourage users to continue relying on official Liquid and Blockstream channels for updates. Thank you to the Liquid community for your patience and support throughout the recovery.

https://blog.liquid.net/liquid-network-security-incident-assessment/

LIQUID NETWORK UPDATE: ECOSYSTEM ACTIVITY
Status as of September 17, 2026, 21:05 UTC

Network and Ecosystem Status

Since resuming on September 10, block production and network transactions, including LBTC transfers, have operated normally. Peg-out operations remain paused while work continues with Federation members and partners toward their safe restoration. Markets and services across the ecosystem are back online.

Mifiel has resumed the issuance and transactions of its digital promissory notes, with batches confirming normally. At the exchange level, BTSE reports that its platform has re-enabled USDT-Liquid transfers and the asset is unaffected by the incident.

AQUA reports that Liquid asset transfers and peg-ins are available. Its new swap feature, Indra, is also live, enabling swaps between LBTC and Lightning BTC, although liquidity remains limited.

Other wallets are restoring core functionality as well. Bull Bitcoin and the Blockstream App report that Liquid asset transfers are available, although LBTC<>BTC and LBTC<>Lightning swap routes on those services remain unavailable until peg-outs are restored.

Meanwhile, non-LBTC swap services are returning, with SideShift re-enabling cross-chain swaps for USDT and DEPIX on Liquid.

Please note service availability varies by provider, and users should confirm deposit, withdrawal and swap availability through each provider’s official channels.

BTC Recovery and Peg-Outs

As previously reported, 3,400 BTC of the ~4,000 BTC withdrawn on September 6 has been returned to the Federation reserve. Approximately 600 BTC remains unreturned, and efforts to pursue its recovery continue.

We understand that the central question for LBTC holders is when peg-outs will resume. While we are not yet able to provide a firm date, peg-outs will resume only after full 1:1 BTC backing for LBTC has been confirmed and all required software updates, testing and independent security reviews have been completed.

The Liquid Federation members and Blockstream will share the plan and timing for resuming peg-outs as soon as they are finalized.

Technical Post-Mortem

The root cause and exploit path have been identified, and the immediate fix was released in Elements v23.3.4. A comprehensive technical report detailing the incident will be released as soon as it is available.

Thank You

The Liquid Federation and Blockstream sincerely thank Federation member companies, ecosystem operators, developers, security researchers, and users for their continued work, patience and support throughout the recovery process.

LIQUID NETWORK UPDATE: TRANSACTIONS RESUMED, PEG-OUTS DISABLED
Status as of September 10, 2026, 19:55 UTC

Recovery Status

The Liquid Network has entered into its next recovery phase. Block production has resumed, and functionary nodes are signing and validating blocks. Transactions on the network have resumed, while peg-outs remain disabled as a precautionary measure while the final stage of recovery continues.

Rigorous testing, AI-assisted code scanning, and continuous network monitoring are underway by internal and external teams. Further information on the resumption of peg-outs will be shared once available.

Important: What You Should Know

Users do not need to take any proactive steps at this time. If you operate a Liquid node, please update to Elements v23.3.4 immediately.

Reminder: Beware of Scams

There are reports of scammers attempting to exploit the situation through fraudulent update sites and messages. Please rely only on official Liquid Network, Blockstream Jade, and Blockstream channels. Never send funds to unfamiliar addresses, transfer assets to unknown channels, or disclose private keys or seed phrases in response to unsolicited communications.

More Updates Soon

Updates will be shared through official Liquid Network and Blockstream channels. The Liquid Federation and Blockstream again sincerely thank the broader Bitcoin community for its continued assistance and support during this recovery.

LIQUID NETWORK UPDATE: OPERATIONS RESUMED, RECOVERY ONGOING
Status as of September 10, 2026, 10:00 UTC

Recovery Status

The Liquid Network has entered the next phase of its controlled resumption. As a precautionary measure, block production has resumed without transactions while the network is monitored to confirm full stabilization.

Blockstream confirms that the required functionary and bridge node updates have been successfully deployed. Functionary nodes are signing and validating blocks as intended.

Peg operations, including PAK-authorized peg-outs, remain suspended while work continues on the final recovery stage: restoring the BTC/LBTC reserve is in progress.

Reminder: Beware of Scams

There are reports of scammers attempting to exploit the situation through fraudulent update sites and messages. Please rely only on official Liquid Network and Blockstream channels. Never send funds or disclose private keys or seed phrases in response to unsolicited communications.

Thank You

The Liquid Federation and Blockstream sincerely thank the broader Bitcoin community and security teams for their assistance and continued support during this challenging time.

Safely restoring full operations remains the highest priority.

LIQUID NETWORK UPDATE: NEW RELEASE
Status as of September 9, 2026, 13:10 UTC

Update to Elements v23.3.4

The emergency Elements v23.3.4 release is now available. Functionary nodes are being updated immediately and we recommend all Liquid node runners do the same. This release addresses the proof-verification cache vulnerability, hardening the cache keys used for range proofs.

Elements v23.3.4 has undergone multiple rounds of internal and external review, including by the Bitcoin Red Team, Alpen Labs and others. Blockstream sincerely thanks these teams for their valuable review and collaboration.

Liquid Network Recovery Plan

The recovery plan remains under active development and may be revised as testing and validation continue. Based on current assessments, the anticipated stages are:

1) Resume block production while peg operations remain suspended.

2) Replay transactions verified as valid.

3) Resume peg operations once the network state has been fully restored including a return of funds.

Blockstream is testing the procedures for the first two stages in parallel. While the current plan anticipates proceeding in the order above, the sequencing and implementation may be adjusted based on the results. No stage will proceed until it is considered safe to advance.

Beware of Scams

There are reports of scammers attempting to exploit this situation by misleading users with fake update sites. This is a reminder to only rely on official Liquid Network and Blockstream channels, and never send funds or disclose private keys or seed phrases in response to unsolicited messages.

We again thank the broader Bitcoin community and our research collaborators for their continued support and assistance. Safely restoring normal operations remains the highest priority for the Liquid Federation and Blockstream.

https://github.com/ElementsProject/elements/releases

LIQUID NETWORK UPDATE: INCIDENT REPORT
Status as of September 8, 2026, 19:10 UTC

What Happened?

On September 6, 2026 at 15:53:10 UTC (Liquid block 4,050,336), a vulnerability in the open-source Elements software related to how Liquid nodes cache range proof verifications was exploited, resulting in the creation of ~4,000 LBTC that were not backed by bitcoin held in reserve.

The individual(s) responsible for the exploit then used the SideSwap service, a Liquid Federation member that holds a peg-out authorization (PAK) key, to convert the unbacked LBTC to BTC via Liquid’s standard peg-out mechanism. Because the validation failure occurred at the transaction level before the peg-out was initiated, both SideSwap’s node and the Liquid Network’s globally distributed functionary nodes accepted the LBTC as valid. The functionaries processed the peg-out as authorized, releasing approximately 4,000 BTC through SideSwap’s whitelisted bitcoin address, which SideSwap then forwarded to the address specified by the exploiters. Before the incident, the Liquid reserve held approximately 4,205 BTC. Following this peg-out and additional peg-outs processed before operations were halted, the reserve balance fell to 197 BTC.

Key Clarifications

No keys were compromised. The Liquid Federation functionaries were not hacked, and no private keys were compromised. The peg-out mechanism that authorizes withdrawals to whitelisted addresses operated as designed.

Other Liquid-issued assets were not affected. USDT and other tokens issued on the Liquid Network were not impacted by the vulnerability, though they are temporarily unavailable while the network remains paused. 

Investigation is ongoing. As is common in complex critical-system failure investigations, this incident arose from the convergence of several individually low-probability factors that interacted in ways that ultimately defeated the system's built-in redundancies. More detail will be shared in forthcoming communications.

What Steps Have Been Taken To Recover The Assets?

The individual(s) responsible for the exploit left a public message on the bitcoin mainchain identifying themselves as white-hat security researchers and requesting contact to address the vulnerability. 

Patch deployed. Blockstream identified and deployed a patch to the Liquid Network’s bridge nodes, which was completed on September 7 at 01:09 UTC, ensuring the vulnerability is no longer exploitable.

Partial fund recovery. On September 7 at 16:09:25 UTC (Liquid block 965,950), the exploiters returned 3,400 BTC to the Liquid Federation peg wallet. Approximately 598.5 BTC (15% of the total) remains outstanding. Discussions between Blockstream and the individuals responsible are ongoing to secure the return of the remaining funds. 

What Comes Next?

Our immediate priorities are recovering the remaining funds and resuming normal network operations safely and as quickly as possible.

Software update in progress. A fix for the exploited vulnerability has been developed and is undergoing multiple rounds of internal and external review. Blockstream is preparing an emergency release of Elements (v23.3.4), which is expected to be released as soon as possible, but within approximately 48 hours.

Network restoration. Once the software update is finalized, Liquid Network functionary operators will perform additional adjustments to resume full functionality and restore the corrected network state, including rejection of the invalid peg-out.

Ongoing updates. We will continue to provide detailed updates as the situation progresses. 

What You Should Know

The Liquid Network remains offline at this time, while we work on reviewing the security fixes and network resumption code and coordinate with the white hat hacker towards timely resumption of the network with 1:1 backing for BTC. While the network is paused, users cannot transact on Liquid. If you operate a Liquid node, please watch for the emergency Elements release and follow the upgrade instructions when available. Users do not need to take any proactive steps to protect their funds at this time.

The Liquid Federation and its members are committed to resolving this incident in coordination with Blockstream and to resuming normal operations as soon as it is safe to do so.

Dear Liquid community,

On Monday, Liquid functionaries plan to activate a Dynamic Federations (DynaFed) transition as part of ongoing HSM upgrade work.

Following the transition, Liquid’s new proof-of-reserves address will be: bc1qdlld6antmv4xug242ed83q7k4rqw50cwfns38szx4qu2f4jwaxxsuhwxxr

The team maintaining liquid.network (Mempool) has also been notified so that its proof-of-reserves display can be updated accordingly.

Most users and integrations will not need to take any action, and Liquid is expected to continue operating normally throughout the transition.

Only integrators that rely on a hardcoded fedpegscript will need to update their systems to use the current script, which is being signaled in Liquid block headers.

For those new to the Liquid community, DynaFed transitions are planned, on-chain updates to the federation’s operating parameters. They allow functionaries to rotate keys, upgrade infrastructure, or update the federation’s operator set, without disrupting network operation.

Please feel free to reach out with any questions.

New zero-confirmation (0-conf) infrastructure is now available, giving enterprises near-instant, privacy-preserving acceptance flows on Liquid.

It’s part of Liquid’s 2026 roadmap, alongside a quantum-ready testnet and BitVM whitepaper by year-end.

https://blog.liquid.net/0-conf-for-elements-and-liquid-a-technical-explainer/

Simplicity, Liquid’s high-assurance smart contracting language, has a newly redesigned documentation site with more example apps and tutorials, including a testable lending contract that lets users borrow against assets such as LBTC and USDT. Explore yourself!

https://simplicity-lang.org/simplicity-apps

Activation complete. ✅

ELIP 203 is now live on Liquid, removing the issuance cap for non-LBTC assets and unlocking better UX for large-scale tokenization. Mainnet proof. 👇

https://blockstream.info/liquid/tx/6c3be5b2dff1ab1a65586bc572a48daa00e6c3acba415cfbb4df5e0c17c4dae2?expand

First major upgrade shipped. Next up: 0-conf by end of June. ⏱️

Full 2026-2027 roadmap details below. 🌊 👀

https://blog.liquid.net/blockstream-shares-liquid-development-roadmap-0-conf-pq-readiness-bitvm-more/

Attention Liquid community!

A reminder before Monday's scheduled network upgrade to update your nodes to at least 23.3.1 to avoid any disruptions.

Releases: https://github.com/ElementsProject/elements/releases

Any questions, please don't hesitate to comment. Enjoy the weekend!

Attention node runners!

This is a reminder to update your Elements nodes to at least v23.3.1 ahead of the scheduled activation of ELIP 203 on Monday, June 1, 2026.

Releases: https://github.com/ElementsProject/elements/releases

As outlined in the recent Liquid roadmap update, ELIP 203 removes the inherited 21M issuance cap for non-LBTC assets, an important UX upgrade for tokenization on Liquid.

ELIP 203 details: https://github.com/ElementsProject/ELIPs/blob/main/elip-0203.mediawiki

ICYMI: Blockstream shares an update on Liquid’s development roadmap.

- Major Elements updates, including 0-conf, UPP and cont. Bitcoin Core parity
- PQ readiness and a planned quantum-ready testnet by EOY
- BitVM-style 1-of-n bridge research and whitepaper
- Simplicity-based oracle, DEX and other DeFi infrastructure
- Extending Lightning support for the Liquid Wallet Kit (LWK)
- Institutional custody and improved tokenization UX

Review the full roadmap. 👇

https://blog.liquid.net/blockstream-shares-liquid-development-roadmap-0-conf-pq-readiness-bitvm-more/

All-time high transaction volume. $5 billion in RWA TVL. 87 Federation members. Get the quick download on the latest Liquid ecosystem updates in the new quarterly report.

https://blog.liquid.net/liquid-federation-quarterly-update-q1-2026/

Blockstream has just released Simplex, a Rust-based developer framework for Simplicity smart contracts, aimed at providing a rich suite of tools for implementing, testing and deploying contracts on Liquid.

* CLI for managing Simplicity-based projects.
* SDK with essential Simplicity utilities.
* Liquid regtest for local integration testing.
* Extensive framework configuration.

Start building with expressive, high-assurance smart contracts today.

https://github.com/BlockstreamResearch/smplx

Dear Liquid community, a reminder to update your nodes to the latest Elements release, 23.3.2. This update ensures the smoothest experience when building with Simplicity smart contracts and includes several upstream patches from Bitcoin Core. Onward!

https://github.com/ElementsProject/elements/releases

The Liquid Federation is excited to welcome seven new member companies: Cowbolt, Eulen, illuminodes, Mooze, OrderMoon, Sorted Wallet, and SOUSTA, bringing total Federation membership to 87. Together, they represent a meaningful expansion in both where Liquid is being deployed and how it is being used.

The new members broaden Liquid’s usage across three distinct sectors: everyday payments, decentralized protocols and infrastructure, and Bitcoin capital markets.

Details:

https://blog.liquid.net/liquid-welcomes-seven-new-bitcoin-native-companies-to-the-federation/

The Liquid Developer Bootcamp world tour expands. 🌎

Next stop: Mexico City (Oct 29-30), followed by São Paulo (Nov 3-4), including a Simplicity hackathon with $6k in BTC for winning teams!

Free to attend! Sign up at http://liquid.net/bootcamp now!

The Liquid Developer Bootcamp world tour continues! Next stop is São Paulo, Brazil, Nov 3-4, with a special focus on Simplicity. Following the two-day Liquid bootcamp, a Simplicity hackathon will also take place during Sats Conf.

Apply now using the form below or visit http://liquid.net/bootcamp to learn more.

https://blockstream.typeform.com/to/iBpAMgTI

The countdown for Simplicity has officially kicked off! With the voting period now complete, Simplicity is scheduled to go live on Liquid mainnet by the end of next week.

Bookmark the site below. In the coming days, Blockstream Research will be adding new developer documentation, tutorials and onboarding materials to help Bitcoin developers get started with Simplicity from day one.

https://simplicity-lang.org