Initia halts blockchain and rollups following $2.7 million exploit

The modular blockchain platform Initia suspended its Layer 1 network and all associated rollups on October 23, 2026, following a major security incident. The halt occurred at 3:41:30 PM UTC after researchers detected unauthorized token minting.

Co-founder Ezaan Mangalji identified the cause as a “Day 0 bug” related to Initia’s MoveVM on CosmosSDK, which allowed an attacker to mint additional tokens on the L1. While the exploit affected various assets, Mangalji noted that native INIT tokens were not impacted.

Security researchers and DeFi platforms, including D2 Finance, reported that the attacker minted approximately 2 million unbacked AUSD tokens. These assets, along with USDC and Ether, were reportedly bridged to Ethereum. Estimates of the total value moved out of the system range from $2.6 million to $2.7 million. Specifically, reports indicate that roughly 1,135.5 ETH was consolidated into an Ethereum wallet during the exploit.

Initia is currently working with security teams, validators, and exchanges to assess the full scope of the impact. As of the latest reports, no official restart date has been provided, and the exchange Upbit has paused INIT deposits and withdrawals pending further investigation.