Qubic restarts blockchain and opens recovery claims after $1.4 million wallet hack
Qubic is running again after a two-day halt
Qubic, a layer-1 blockchain (a base network that runs its own transactions), has restarted its network and opened a recovery process. The move follows a hack in which an attacker drained about $1.4 million in QU tokens from 1,404 accounts.
The project said the theft was possible because of a weakness in how some wallet seeds were created. A wallet seed is the secret string of words or characters that a person uses to control their funds.
The network's blockchain explorer shows it resumed processing ticks at 8:00 pm on Oct. 19. Ticks are the network's units of activity. It advanced past tick 85,371,949, where it had been stopped on Sunday.
Key details of the attack and the recovery plan
- About $1.4 million in QU tokens were taken from 1,404 accounts.
- The network was halted on Sunday to stop the stolen funds from moving further.
- Validators called Computors approved a recovery plan, according to Qubic.
- A claims platform is open for affected wallet holders.
- Claims can be submitted until May 1, 2027.
What Qubic says about the flawed wallet seeds
Qubic said the problem affected wallet seeds created with its web wallet on certain Apple devices and browsers. In those cases, an insecure random-number generator could produce seeds that were predictable.
On Sunday, Qubic said it had fixed the seed-generation flaw in the newest version of its web wallet.
On Tuesday, the team warned: "If you created your wallet with the Qubic web wallet before version 4.26.4 (released 19 October), treat it as insecure, even if your funds were never touched."
Qubic told users to update to web wallet version 4.26.4 or later, then create a new wallet, move funds to it as soon as possible, and never use the old one again.
How affected holders can file a claim
Qubic said affected users can check their address and submit a claim through the project's reclaim platform. The deadline for submitting claims is May 1, 2027, according to Qubic.
What is confirmed
The network is processing again after resuming at 8:00 pm on Oct. 19. Qubic's explorer places the restart past tick 85,371,949. Qubic states that roughly $1.4 million in QU tokens left 1,404 accounts, that its Computors approved a recovery plan, and that a claims platform is now live with a May 1, 2027 deadline.
What is still unclear
The source material does not say who carried out the attack, where they are located, or whether any of the stolen funds have been recovered. It also does not explain how the recovery plan will pay back affected holders or how claims will be verified.
Sources
Newisty Editorial Team covers technology, cryptocurrency, digital products, online platforms, developer tools and the wider digital economy. Our content is researched from official sources, company announcements, public documentation, market data and other primary or reputable sources. Articles are reviewed and edited before publication for clarity, accuracy and useful context.