Initia blockchain halted after exploit drains over $2.6 million

Initia blockchain halted — The Initia blockchain network has been halted after an exploit allowed an attacker to mint unbacked tokens and drain millions of dollars in crypto assets to Ethereum.

The layer-1 network and its rollups were suspended on Friday, October 23, 2026, after security researchers identified unauthorized token minting. Blockchain sleuth Spreek first reported the incident, noting the attacker had converted approximately $2.6 million into other assets.

According to analysis from DeFi platform D2 Finance, the attacker exploited a vulnerability in a Move function to mint 2 million AUSD tokens without sufficient backing. The funds were then moved cross-chain, with approximately 1.4 million AUSD, 105 ETH, and 1.08 million USDC withdrawn to Ethereum. The stolen assets were consolidated into a single Ethereum wallet holding roughly 1,135.5 ETH, valued at $2.73 million.

Initia’s native token, INIT, briefly fell to around $0.115 before recovering to trade near $0.1496. The team stated it is working with security researchers, validators, and exchanges to assess the full impact, but has not publicly confirmed the estimated losses or a precise cause. The timeline for restoring network operations remains unclear.