The hacker who breached the Liquid exchange returned about $270 million worth of Bitcoin after stealing approximately $320 million, with around $50 million still unaccounted for. Bitcoin's public ledger allows the transfers before and after the return to be tracked by outsiders. The partial return eased market concerns about a massive sell-off of stolen Bitcoin, but the incident highlights the risks of centralized custody, potentially intensifying regulatory scrutiny and driving users toward self-custody.