Initia: No Restart Date After Attack Leads to $2.7 Million Loss
Initia’s layer 1 and rollups have been offline since Friday, October 23, 2026, after an attacker minted tokens and bridged out approximately $2.7 million. No restart date has been announced, with co-founder Zon pointing to a MoveVM flaw.

Initia's chain has been offline since October 23, 2026, following a security incident.
An attacker minted tokens and bridged out approximately $2.7 million.
The incident is attributed to a 'Day 0 bug' in Initia's MoveVM.
Funds were withdrawn via LayerZero adapters on Ethereum.
Story
Initia’s layer 1 and its rollups have been offline since Friday, October 23, 2026, at 11:41 a.m. ET, after the team cited a “security incident,” and no restart date has been announced. Co-founder Zon pointed to preliminary findings, citing a “Day 0 bug related to Initia’s MoveVM on CosmosSDK that allowed the exploiter to mint additional tokens on the Initia L1 but does not apply to native INIT tokens.” The attacker managed to “mint and bridge out ~$2.7m worth of AUSD, ETH, and USDC before the chain was paused.” D2 Finance, which published a breakdown of the transactions, stated that the funds left through LayerZero adapters on Ethereum. Agora, the issuer of AUSD, clarified that AUSD itself is fully backed and the tokens minted on Initia were a bridged representation. This incident highlights the ongoing security risks in the blockchain industry, particularly with new protocols and cross-chain interoperability.
Issue context
The crypto market shows a slight downturn, while attention shifts to new forms of market participation and institutional adoption. Prediction markets recorded a record $2.7 billion in volume in a single week, driven by short-term Bitcoin bets. This indicates a growing appetite for speculative, short-term exposure, even as spot trading volumes decline. Concurrently, the tokenization of traditional assets is advancing, exemplified by Franklin Templeton's transfer of $150 million in fund shares to the XRP Ledger. These developments underscore a diversification of crypto market activities, moving beyond pure spot trading towards derivative products and the integration of blockchain technology into traditional finance. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has named tokenized securities and 'super intelligence' as examination priorities for fiscal year 2027, signaling increased regulatory scrutiny of these emerging areas. These dynamics are shaping the future landscape of digital finance.
Current market movements indicate a shift towards more speculative, short-term engagements, particularly in Bitcoin derivatives. Concurrently, institutional moves towards tokenization and increased regulatory scrutiny signal a maturing market. Be aware of potential impacts from exchange inflows in altcoins like Shiba Inu, which could suggest increased selling pressure. Your risk tolerance should account for these developments.
Market pulse
ETH
$2.4K
-1.11% 24h / -1.98% 7d
Fear & Greed
51
Neutral
BTC Funding
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20 perp markets · Open Interest $53.5B
BTC Open Interest
$53.5B
24h volume $51B · basis +0.049%
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This story is part of the Biturai Market Brief and is for informational purposes only. No investment advice.