72hrs to Return $25 Million Stolen Funds

• Resolv offered a hacker 10% bounty to return $25 million within 72 hours.
• USR stablecoin crashed over 70% following an exploit and liquidity pressure.
• Resolv warned that attacker funds may be tracked and frozen if ignored.

Resolv has issued a 72-hour ultimatum after a $25 million exploit hit its stablecoin ecosystem. The team offered the attacker a 10% bounty to return the funds. 

The incident triggered a sharp drop in the USR token and raised concerns across DeFi markets.

Resolv Offers 10% Bounty for Stolen Funds

Resolv Labs announced an on-chain offer to the attacker who drained about $25 million from the protocol. The team proposed that the exploiter return 90% of the funds within 72 hours and keep the remaining 10% as a white hat bounty.

The message also asked the attacker to stop moving the stolen funds and return the remaining USR tokens to the provided address.

According to on-chain data, the attacker gained access to a compromised private key and minted unbacked tokens. The funds were then swapped and withdrawn, creating heavy selling pressure.

Following the exploit, Resolv’s USR stablecoin dropped more than 70%, raising concerns about the protocol’s stability and liquidity.

Team Warns of Tracking and Fund Freeze

Resolv stated that failure to comply within the deadline would lead to escalation. The team said it would coordinate with exchanges, analytics firms, and law enforcement to track and potentially freeze the funds.

Such responses are increasingly common in DeFi exploits, where teams attempt recovery before pursuing legal action.

White Hat Bounties Grow in DeFi Exploits

Resolv’s response (and the offer of a white hat bounty) isn’t unusual in the crypto industry. 

In fact, it’s becoming increasingly popular. Instead of leaning only on legal action (which can be slow and messy, especially across borders), projects often try to bribe the hacker into giving money back voluntarily. It doesn’t always work, but in DeFi, it’s one of the few real options.

For instance, last year, the decentralized exchange GMX was exploited for around $42 million. Similar to Resolv, the team offered the hacker a 10% white hat bounty to return the funds.

Interestingly, the hacker accepted the deal and returned the funds, earning approximately a $5 million bounty.

Also in 2025, after a massive $1.5 billion exploit, Bybit launched a recovery bounty program offering up to 10% of recovered funds.

A slightly different situation happened in March this year. Foom Cash lost $2.26 million, but a white hat hacker stepped in and helped get back over 80% of it.

As it stands now, Resolv and the DeFi community are waiting for the 72-hour window to see if the attacker will take the deal.

Related: Resolv Stablecoin Crashes After $25M Exploit Mints 80M Fake Tokens