“All messages will be in plaintext.” The Liquid exploiter announced a switch away from encrypted on-chain messages

The Liquid exploiter and Blockstream have been communicating through messages embedded in Bitcoin transactions, with parts of the exchange encrypted so outside observers couldn’t read them.

On September 8, the exploiter announced a change in how they would communicate:

All messages will be in plaintext.

Transaction ID:
1d690f3b96b878067f3a445b74dfb8fab4201c0455d88ac98cc14a927e7858d7

On September 9, a subsequent plaintext message made the dispute public. Two excerpts:

And later:

Anyway we are going to publish the privatekey to decrypt our conversations afterwards.

The message demanded payment from Blockstream’s own funds and warned that refusing would leave holders facing a 15% loss. That is the sender’s demand and warning—not evidence of an agreed bounty or an independently established outcome for holders.

Transaction ID:
f7055f6c8dd00f404e48c12483ae740180f658db206733505bb27b015e579588

What makes this interesting is the distinction between a public transaction and a readable conversation. The exchanges were already visible on Bitcoin, but the encrypted content wasn’t. Now the exploiter is making their demands readable to everyone and saying they will release the material needed to decrypt the earlier exchanges. Blockstream, meanwhile, reportedly continued replying with encrypted messages.